Serenity's Court
by ShawnE1
Summary: Were the Sailor Scouts, Tuxedo Mask, and the two Moon Cats the only ones that Queen Serenitys saved from the destruction of the Silver Millinniem? No. There were others sent forward in time through the magic of the Silver Crystal. This is the story of
1. Author Notes

Introduction:

Author's Notes and Place in the Time Line

Hello readers,

As much as it amazes me, I have been writing Serenity's Court for almost two years now. Time flies when your having fun (and when you're struggling with writer's block ^^;) I'd like to thank all of you that have been waiting so patiently for me to work on this and to welcome all of the newcomers! I hope you enjoy the newly revamped website!

Now for the promised introduction:

Serenity's Court is a story of an alternate SM universe. In this universe, there are ten Sailor Scouts: the nine that everyone knows and loves and one addition by the name of Sailor Athena. Sailor Moon: Serenity's Court falls after the S season of the anime. It takes the place of SuperS. Reenie has returned to the future Crystal Tokyo. For the rest, see the fic! 

If there are any other explanations needed, please feel free to write me at sailorvulcan@hotmail.com

Thank you,

Shawn 

January 8, 2002

Back to Main / Back to the Story


	2. Another Scout?

Chapter One: A New Scout

Two figures perched on a nearby rooftop watching the fight below. It was a typical fight: monster sucks energy from humans, Sailor Scouts appear, Sailor Moon makes silly speech, Scouts and monster attack each other, and eventually the monster is worn down enough for Sailor Moon to finish it off with a Moon Spiral Heart Attack.

The pair waited until the Scouts had finished congratulating each other and left before coming down from the roof.

"We have definitely got a problem Perseus," said the girl as she examined the pile of dust that was all that was left of the monster.

"What do you mean?" asked Perseus. The question was innocent enough but the fact that it was coming from a large dark gray tomcat gave the query more weight.

"I think this was a Dark Kingdom youma," the girl replied as she stood up and wiped her gloved hands on the pale gray skirt of her Scout uniform and absentmindedly adjusted her burgundy bows. As she stared thoughtfully out into the distance the sun sparkled off of the burgundy stone in her tiara. An answering spark reflected off of the yellow crescent moon on the cat's forehead.

"I hope you're wrong Athena," the cat said, but he didn't sound too hopeful.

"This bears looking into," said Sailor Athena. She stooped and picked up Perseus. She settled the cat in her arms and leapt back up to the rooftop. The two were unaware of the tuxedo-clad man who watched them from yet another rooftop vantagepoint.

"Another Scout?" thought Tuxedo Mask. "How can there be anymore? We've run out of planets!" He hadn't been close enough to hear what the unknown Scout and Guardian Cat had been discussing, so he decided not to tell the others until he found out more. There was no need to excite Sailor Moon and the other Scouts until he had at least had a chance to talk to Pluto. "She might be hard to get in touch with. I'll call Alex and Michelle tonight. Maybe they know how to reach her." With that thought in mind, the tuxedo clad superhero leapt away over the rooftops toward his apartment. 

The Next Day

"Coffee for your thoughts?" quipped Andrew as he placed a cup down in front of his friend as he sat staring off into space at the counter in the Crown Arcade.

"Huh?" 

"Man, Dare! You sure are out of it today! Having trouble with Serena again?" The blonde arcade guy leaned over the counter to give Darien a closer look.

"Oh, no Andrew. Serena and I are just fine. I'm just thinking about school. You know classes start Monday." Darien didn't like lying to his best friend, but it would be asking a bit much to explain what was really on his mind. He had finally managed to get in touch with Susan, better known as Sailor Pluto. She hadn't been much help. In fact all she would say was: "All shall be revealed in the fullness of time. Do not mention what you have seen to the others." 'She must get some kind of kick out of being so, so blasted mysterious!' Darien fumed to himself.

"Yeah," Andrew replied, "It's strange to think that we're in our second year of college, huh?"

Darien focused back on Andrew. "Yeah, strange. Talking of strange, it'll be strange having you being single while I've got a girlfriend. That is a big role reversal."

"Yeah, I know. But Rita and I just grew apart. I guess what they say about maintaining a long distance relationship is true. At least we're still friends, even if we did break up. You haven't told the girls have you?!" Andrew looked frantically around the arcade as if expecting an ambush to jump out at him.

Darien laughed. "Your secret's safe with me! At least until I need to pull out the heavy ammunition!"

Andrew gave an exaggerated sigh of relief. "The girls are sweet and all, but when Lita and Mina get an idea, especially one involving guys in their heads…"

"I know, believe me, I know!" the two college boys exchanged a long-suffering look. 

"I've got it!" Darien exclaimed.

"You've got what?" Andrew asked warily.

"We need to get you a new girlfriend before the girls find out and then you'll be safe!"

"Right, Dare." You could have cut the sarcasm with a knife. "The girl of my dreams is just going to walk through that door." The blonde boy waved his hand theatrically toward the door of the arcade and right on cue it opened.

A silhouette appeared in the door, back lit by the blazing August sun, a slender, nicely curved silhouette. 

"You were saying Andy?" Darien smirked. Andrew just stared at the girl in the doorway. Somewhere Lenny Cravitz' version of American Woman began to play. After a momentary pause, she moved on into the arcade, allowing the automatic doors to close behind her. The boys watched as the girl walked slowly toward the counter. Even though Darien had a steady girlfriend, that didn't keep him from appreciating a set of gorgeous legs, especially when Serena wasn't around. Said set of legs led up to a softly curving body clad in a crop top and shorts and from there up to a classically beautiful face. Her eyes were hidden behind John Lenin sunglasses, but the slight curve to her full lips radiated cool amusement. She sat down at the counter and flipped a lock of dark brown hair over her shoulder. 

When neither of the boys said anything, she took off her sunglasses, revealing laughing gray eyes. "What's wrong? Am I intruding?" Her soft voice broke the spell.

"Uh, yeah! I mean no!, I mean, can I get you something?" Andrew stuttered.

The girl just smiled. "I'd like a Dr. Pepper please, as cold as you can make it." Andrew hurried off to get her drink, glad to do something to hide his blazing cheeks. "Is he always like this?" the girl turned to face Darien for the first time. Gray eyes met blue and a shock of recognition ran through the girl's veins. 

"Darien? Darien Chiba?" she paused seeing the confusion in Darien's eyes. "My, how you've grown! Mama was right, you did grow up to be a cutie."

"Do I know you?" Darien thought that he should recognize the girl, but with his none too reliable memory he wasn't sure.

The girl grinned with a spark of pure devilment in her eyes. "I don't know whether to be insulted or flattered." Darien still looked confused. "Maybe you'll remember if you imagine me with pigtails and a baseball cap"

An image of a little girl in pigtails, a baseball cap and those same laughing gray eyes flashed across Darien's mind. "Cassie?"

"The one and only!"

Darien surged to his feet and picked Cassie up in a hug and swung her around. He put her down and held her at arm's length. "I've changed?! Look at you! You're all grown up!"

"Well, it has been 5 years." Darien and Cassie stood grinning at one another like fools.

"I take it you know each other," Andrew said dryly, his composure regained. "Old girlfriend, Darien?" It wasn't often that 'cool as ice' Chiba got this excited.

"No!!!" Darien blushed slightly and sat back down. Cassie followed suit. "Cassie, this is Andrew Furuhata. Andrew meet Cassandra Whitmore. She is an old friend."

"I can tell," Andrew grinned wickedly. "How good a friend?" he asked as he sat a drink down in front of Cassie.

"Oh, we're real good friends," Cassie answered with an equally wicked grin. Darien leaned back a look of painful resignation on his face. "He's the first boy that I ever kissed." Darien groaned and hid his head in his hands. 

"Oh really?" Andrew was thoroughly enjoying the prospect of needling Darien even as he hid a spurt of unreasoning jealousy at the thought of Darien and this mischievous imp of a girl kissing.

"It was all very romantic," Cassie said in confidential tone as she leaned forward on the countertop. "He fought off a bully who was trying to impart 'worse than death' upon me." 

"Worse than death?" Andrew blinked in confusion.

"Yes. The bully was trying to steal my brand new baseball glove." Cassie smiled, somehow managing to look much younger as she turned with mock innocent eyes on Darien. "You got trashed didn't you Dare? And all to save little ol' me." She batted her eyelashes at her friend. "I don't know what embarrassed you more, the bruises or the peck on the cheek that I gave you afterwards."

"I was only ten at the time, Cass, and you were what? Eight? You may look different, but you still act the same. What did I do to deserve having to deal with you again?" The look on Darien's face didn't match the acerbity of his words. In fact he looked absolutely tickled.

"You'll just have to get used to having me around again. We moved back to town."

"That's great!" Darien grinned. "It'll be nice to my 'little sister' around to torture again."

"And to be tortured by!" Cassie winked at the arcade guy.

"Little sister?" Andrew looked even more confused. "Since when do you have a sister?"

Darien looked at his dumfounded friend. "She's not my real sister. We grew up together, so we just act like brother and sister. We've known each other since we were little kids."

"Yep," Cassie nodded emphatically. "Dare practically lived at my house until Daddy got transferred and we moved away. That was five years ago." Inspiration struck. "How long have you known Darien, Andrew?" asked Cassie with a gleam in her eyes.

"About five years now Cassandra." Andrew began to get a sneaky glint in his brown eyes.

"Just call me Cassie. Why don't I tell you all about young Darien and you tell me all about slightly older Darien? That way between the two of us, we can keep him in line," That sneaky glint in both sets of eyes turned into full-fledged devilment.

"You can't do that!" Darien was horrified.

"And how are you going stop us Mr. Chiba?" Cassie cocked one eyebrow at the dark haired boy.

"Like this!" Darien reached out and began to tickle her. She shrieked and tried to get away, but the much taller boy was able to keep hold of her as she writhed with laughter. Andrew stood astonished for a second and then began to laugh.

It was at that fateful moment that five teenage girls walked into the Crown Arcade. 

"Darien!!!" screamed the blonde with two long pigtails and meatball-like buns.

Andrew, Darien, and Cassie froze. The dark haired boy looked at his girlfriend, then down at the girl in his arms, then back to his girlfriend. Then he did the only thing he could think of to do: he dropped the girl in his arms like a she was a snake. Cassie landed with a thud on the ground still giggling slightly from the tickle attack.

"Hi Serena! I can explain…" Darien had the guiltiest look on his face. That caused Andrew to begin laughing again. He laughed so hard that tears were streaming down his face and he had to hold onto the countertop to stay on his feet.

Serena and her four friends stalked up to Darien. Serena looked more hurt than anything, but the other four were exuding enough anger to fry birds in mid-flight. Darien swallowed and tried to speak again, but nothing came out.

"We're waiting Darien," said the girl with the long, dark hair as she stood tapping her foot in a rapid tattoo. She shot Andrew an annoyed look that only made him laugh harder.

"Maybe I can help." The girls looked down at the stranger on the floor. Cassie smiled at them as she climbed to her feet, brushing tears of laughter out of her eyes. "I'm Cassandra Whitmore, Darien's unofficial little sister." She held out her hand.

"Little sister?" Serena looked confused as she took Cassie's hand.

"Darien and I grew up together. I just got back in town. Who might you all be?"

"Oh, where are our manners?" asked the blue haired girl. "My name is Amy Mizuno. This is Serena Tsukino, Mina Aino, Raye Hino, and Lita Kino." She pointed to each of the girls in turn. Cassie nodded to each.

"Let's sit down and talk. I take it Serena is Darien's girlfriend?" Cassie asked as she led the group of girls toward a table. Although Raye and Lita still looked suspiciously at the new girl, they were all soon sitting and gossiping like old friends.

After several minutes, Andrew got his laughter under control and turned to his best friend. "How did she do that?"

Darien had sat back down at the counter, sagging with relief. "Do what?"

"Keep those girls from ripping your head off."

"I don't know. Cassie is just a born diplomat."

Andrew picked up Cassie's abandoned drink. "Come on. Let's go see what they are discussing." The two boys headed over to the table full of girls.

"So you're the little girl with the rose. Darien has been looking for you for most of his life." Cassie was saying. "You're a very lucky girl."

Serena blushed and nodded. "I know."

"Saying something nice about me Cass?" Darien asked as he pulled up a chair by Serena.

"Only by accident, Dare." She smiled up at Andrew as he put her drink down on the table and pulled up a chair by her.

"So Cassandra…" "Cassie." "All right, Cassie. How old are you?" asked Mina.

"I'm eighteen."

"Cool! We're all sixteen. We all go to Crossroads High, except for Raye. She goes to T*A High," Mina laughed. "We're sophomores."

Cassie smiled at the exuberant blonde. "Well, that's good. I'm going to go to Crossroads, too. I'll be a senior this year."

"That must be hard. Moving in your senior year," Serena said sympathetically.

"I'm used to it. My family has moved a lot in the last five years. We even spent a while in London, England a few years ago."

"Really! Me too!" squealed Mina. She and Cassie proceeded to have an involved conversation about England. Amy, Serena, and the two boys listened avidly. While they were involved, Lita leaned over and whispered in Raye's ear.

"What do you think Raye?"

"She's telling the truth about Darien. The link between them is like that of a brother and sister. It's just…" the dark haired priestess whispered back.

"What?" Lita demanded.

"Underneath it all, she seems very lonely. And there is something else. I just don't know what it is." The two girls drew away from each other as they noticed Cassie watching them. She gave them a sweet smile, but the loneliness Raye had sensed was evident in her eyes even in the midst of an attentive crowd.

Next time on Sailor Moon: Serenity's Court:

The day that parents long for and students dread is here: the first day of school! Don't miss _School Begins._

Back to the Table of Contents


	3. School Begins

Chapter Two: School Begins

Monday, the First Day of School

Cassie examined her class schedule with some disgust as she wandered around trying to find her locker. 'Local History, a sophomore level class: stupid graduation requirements. Gym: yuck. Senior English: okay, calculus: yuck again. Lunch: that I like. Political science: all right I guess. History of the Ancient World: yay! Choir: yay! At least my last two classes are something I can look forward to.' She finally found her locker, stuck her lunch in it and hurried off through the crowded hallway to find her first class.

***********************************

Patricia Haruna felt a major headache coming on. This was her first year teaching at the high school level and she had just gotten her class role for her first period class. Unfortunately, she had recognized many of the names on the list from her days-teaching eighth grade. Lita Kino, Molly Baker, Melvin Fezwick, Amy Mizuno, and the one name that screamed out at her and promised many future headaches: Serena Tsukino. It's not that she didn't like the girl, but she just really didn't want her in her first period class. She somehow doubted that even a full year's time had changed the girl. Serena just couldn't get to school on time. Miss Haruna suspected that it was a genetic disorder as was her ability to fall asleep in class at the drop of a hat. The warning bell rang and Miss Patricia Haruna sighed the sigh of a martyr as the students began file into class.

***********************************

Cassie found her class and was surprised to see that she knew some of the kids in the class. As she stood in the doorway Lita caught sight of her and frantically waved her over. "Come on Cassie, sit with us!" Cassie smiled at her new friends and walked over. She took the seat that Lita indicated in the row on the far side of the classroom. Amy sat in the first seat, Lita sat behind her, and Cassie took the seat behind Lita. In the next row, the first seat was empty, Mina sat in the next, then there was a blank desk, then a girl with short wavy auburn hair. The auburn haired girl leaned across the aisle to Cassie.

"Hi, I'm Molly Baker," the girl had a strong New York accent.

"I'm Cassandra Whitmore." The girls smiled at each other.

A boy with glasses and huge pile of notebooks came into class and sat down behind Cassie. "Hi," he said from behind the pile of notebooks, "I'm Melvin Fezwick."

"Who are you saving that seat for?" Cassie nodded toward the empty desk between Mina and Molly.

"It's for Serena," Molly answered.

"Shouldn't she be here by now? The bell is fixing to ring." Everyone laughed at that. Cassie just looked confused.

Lita started to answer Cassie's question when Mina suddenly breathed, "Oh, he is cute!!!" A boy was standing in the door. He was tall with dark blonde hair and very dark blue eyes. He wasn't just cute, he was very handsome.

"He looks just like my old boyfriend." Lita's eyes were all hearts.

"If that's what your boyfriend looked like, I see why you're so hung up on him," Molly whispered.

"Who is he?" Amy called softly as she examined the newcomer over the edge of her book.

"Let me check my notes…" Melvin began digging through his pile of notebooks.

"His name is Christopher," Cassie offered. The four girls whipped around to stare at her for a second before turning back to stare at the boy. He began walking toward their side of the classroom.

"How do you know him?" asked Melvin.

"Well…" Cassie began.

"Hey Cass!" the boy called as he came near, "Are these the girls you met at the arcade?" He stopped by Mina's desk and grinned down at her. Mina looked like she had stopped breathing. "You didn't tell me they were so good looking." He picked up Mina's hand, bowed over it, and then kissed. He made what should have been a silly gesture look perfectly natural. "Hello, gorgeous," he whispered. Mina promptly swooned.

"Laying it on a bit thick Chris?" Cassie said dryly.

"Never," Chris looked totally unrepentant. "Are you going to introduce me?"

Cassie sighed and shook her head. "Ladies and Melvin, I'd like you to meet my little brother, Christopher Whitmore. He's a sophomore and sixteen like the rest of you. Chris this is Amy, Lita, Melvin, Molly, and I think you've already met Mina."

"So I have." He grinned down at the glaze-eyed blonde as the final bell rang.

"I hate to break this up," Miss Haruna had watched the whole scene with some interest from her desk at the front of the class, "but will everyone take their seats." Haruna took at quick head count as Chris slid into the seat in front of Mina.

The sound of pounding feet echoed down the now empty hall. Serena slid past the open classroom door as she tried to stop her headlong rush. She managed to grab on to the doorframe and pull herself into the class. "Long time no see Miss H!" she panted.

"Just take your seat Serena." Miss Haruna sighed. Some things just never change. 

***************************

That day after school

Everyone had gathered at the Crown arcade after the last class. Serena and company, including her four guards, Molly and Cassie had staked out a table and were busy discussing their impressions of the new school year. And they were watching Serena inhale a humongous ice cream sundae.

"Well Cassie, what do you think of Crossroads High?" asked Amy from behind her book.

"It's okay. Although except for you guys no one seems very friendly."

"That's because of all of the cliques," Mina explained with Lita nodding in agreement. "Since you're new and you're a senior, no one knows how to treat you. All of the seniors already are parts of specific cliques."

"Yeah," Molly added, "and on top of that, even Melvin can find very little out about you and your family. That makes you majorly mysterious."

"You have your own information-gathering network in a high school?!!" Cassie was astounded.

"You bet!" Lita grinned knowingly. "They knew about all the rumors about me before I even entered the doors of the school when I transferred here. And that was in Junior High!"

Cassie just shook her head as the rest of the girls laughed. Andrew wandered over with the drinks that the group had ordered. He grinned and winked at Cassie as he left.

"Hey I think Andrew likes you!" Serena giggled between bites of ice cream.

"How would you know meatball-head? You were convinced he was in love with you for a while!" Raye glared at the blonde girl.

"Raye you're so mean! WAAH!!!" Serena wailed. The fight was on.

"There is nothing wrong with that girl's lungs!" Cassie quipped as she put her hands over her ears.

"You're telling me!" Molly leaned over as that Cassie could hear her over the noise. "She's been my best friend for years and I'm still not used to it."

"Serena! Raye! Cool it!" Amy yelled. The combatants were shocked enough by the outburst to stop fighting and just stare at Amy. She readjusted her book and proceeded to ignore them.

"Any way, I think Serena's right." Mina said into the insuing silence. "Andrew has definitely been checking you out Cassie!"

"But what about Rita?" Lita demanded.

"Who's Rita?" Cassie asked.

"She's Andrew's girlfriend." Amy answered from behind her book.

"Ex-girlfriend." Mina clarified.

"What?!!!" the other girls chorused.

"It's supposed to be a secret, but…" Everyone leaned in to hear Mina's whispered gossip, even Amy stopped attempting to study and put her book down.

Over by the counter, Andrew stood looking at the huddled mass of giggling girls. Serena popped her head out the huddle for a moment and looked at Andrew speculatively for a moment before ducking back into the group. "I don't like the look of that," the arcade guy mumbled. The automatic doors opened seemingly by themselves, until he leaned over saw the black cat on the floor. "Hello Luna," he called. The cat seemed almost as smart as a human as she scanned the arcade for her owner. The blonde college boy just shook his head and gave up on understanding the mysteries of cats and girls, at least for the moment.

The black cat went over to the table of giggling girls. She tried to get Serena's attention by patting at her leg, but didn't succeed. She finally just jumped up on the table. The girls stopped gossiping and stared at the cat.

"Umm, hi Luna!" Serena glanced around at her friends. Luna looked like she had a message, but she couldn't speak in front of Molly and Cassie. Serena racked her mind for an excuse to leave those two behind and not hurt their feelings.

Cassie was staring at the cat. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the yellow crescent moon on her forehead. "What a pretty cat! Whose is it?"

"Oh, that's Serena's cat Luna," Molly answered.

"What an unusual mark on her head! Has she always had it?" Cassie reached out and began rubbing Luna on the chin in an attempt to get her to look her in the eye. Luna jumped down and ran to the door, where she stopped and looked back over her shoulder at the table of girls.

"I think she wants to be fed! I better go!" Serena bolted after her feline. The others all made their excuses and hurriedly left, leaving Molly and Cassie alone.

"Do they often do this mass exodus act?" Cassie asked Molly.

The auburn haired girl sighed. "More times than I care to remember. Well, I guess that I better be getting home too. See you later Cassandra."

'Poor girl.' Cassie thought. Something beeped in her pocket. She pulled out a slim silver compact with a burgundy infinity sign on it. She flipped it open. "You rang Percy?" A gray cat with a crescent moon on its forehead looked out of the mirror at her. "Monster attack in the park," the cat said. "On my way," Cassie replied, "Oh and Percy, I think I found at least some of the other Scouts." She stood up and made her way out of the arcade.

************************

People were running screaming from the park as the Sailor Scouts arrived. They followed the sound of something roaring over by the lake. The young heroines screeched to halt when they caught sight of it. The monster was huge, green, and slobbering, but that wasn't the worst part. It was encased in some kind of glowing armor and welded a really big ax.

"Well Sailor Moon?" Mars poked her leader in the side.

"What?! Oh yeah!" Sailor Moon struck a pose. "Hey you monster! You are disturbing the peace of this park and you interrupted a very interesting gossip-fest! For that, I can't forgive you! I am Sailor Moon! The Champion of Love and Just! And on behalf of the Moon, I will punish you!" She pointed toward the monster, which didn't seem the least bit phased. It roared and rushed toward the Scouts swinging its ax.

"Scatter!" Sailor Venus cried. The Scouts all ran off in different directions. The monster paused for a moment, as if deciding who to chase. That was all the time Scouts needed to turn and attack.

"Mars Celestial Fire …"

"Venus Love Chain…"

"Jupiter Thunder Clap…"

"Shine Aqua…"

"Surround!" "Encircle!" "Zap!" "Illusion!"

The attacks hit the monster at almost the same time. The Scouts cheered as it disappeared behind a cloud of dust. Their elation was short lived however, because as the dust settled, the monster came back into view unharmed.

"Guys, I think we're in trouble!" Sailor Moon was, as always, the master of the obvious.

"Mercury, any ideas?" Jupiter called from the other side of the monster. 

Mercury pulled out her computer and began typing. "I'm working on it! Just keep it busy!"

"Oh that's just peachy!" Mars snapped.

"Come on guys! We've got to buy Mercury some time!" Venus led the Scouts in an attempt to do just that. Battle cries and the monster's roaring filled the park. The Scouts managed to stay just one step in front of the armored monster's ax, but they were tiring and their own attacks didn't even make a dent in the thing. 

"I've got it!" Mercury cried, "It's the armor! We have to get it out of the armor!"

Mars stopped and stared with exasperation at the blue Scout. "How do we do that? Get it to play strip poker?!!!"

"Mars! Watch out!" The monster chose that moment to fling its ax at the distracted Mars. She had no time to react.

Just as the massive ax reached her, a gray blur slammed into the Scout of Fire. They tumbled to a stop at Mercury's feet. The Scouts stared at the newcomer. It was a girl in a gray skirted and collared scout uniform with burgundy bows and a matching burgundy choker. She wore high-heeled sandals of the same color as her bows. Her brown hair reached halfway down her back. The front part of it was pulled back like Venus's, but instead using a huge red bow, she had a simple burgundy barrette. Cool gray eyes met Mars' fiery violet ones as she pulled the raven haired Scout to her feet.

"Watch your back when you make sarcastic comments. You never know who'll be watching." The mystery Scout turned toward Mercury. "You said that the armor must come off." Mercury nodded. "Maybe I can be of service." The gray clad Scout turned to face the monster, who was trying vainly to pry its ax out of the ground.

"Wait!" Sailor Moon shouted, "Who are you?"

The Sailor Scout smiled. "How careless of me! I forgot the standard introduction." She struck a pose. "I am the Sailor Scout of Memory and Music: Sailor Athena! On behalf of the lost planet of wisdom, I will punish all who threaten the search for true knowledge!" She smiled wryly, "And at this moment that means that incompetent hulk over there." 

"Athena!" She pirouetted with her arms held out. Silver gray power swirled with her. "Sonic!" The silver-gray power condensed into two short javelins, one in each hand. As she completed the spin, she threw the javelins at the monster. They stuck in the thing's armor like two giant pins. "Shatter!" she screamed and dropped her arms to her side. For an instant nothing seemed to happen, then with a sound like breaking glass, the monster's armor fell off in tiny pieces revealing a scrawny creature clad only in heart covered boxers. "Now Sailor Moon!"

"Right! Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" The embarrassed looking monster was blasted into moon dust.

"Dusted!" Everyone cheered; everyone except for Sailor Athena. She was gone. 

"Where did she?…" Sailor Jupiter trailed off as she scanned the area looking for Athena.

"I don't know." Mercury put her computer back in her subspace pocket.

"Let's go home girls," Sailor Mars said as she rubbed her bruised shoulder. She hadn't landed very well when Athena had pushed her out of the way of the monster's attack. The other Scouts nodded and headed out of the park.

***********

"Well?" asked a deep male voice as Cassandra opened the door to her darkened bedroom. She closed the door behind her before answering, leaving the room in almost total darkness. She paused to let her eyes adjust.

"It's hard to tell through the glamour, but I'm pretty sure that Serena Tsukino is the Princess and Amy, Raye, Lita, and Mina are the Inner Guard." Cassandra collapsed onto her bed beside her Guardian Cat. Perseus climbed up on her stomach and stretched out.

"What about the other girl? Molly, isn't it?" he asked. Cassie reached up and began scratching him behind the ears.

"I don't know. She has a familiar feel to her, but I can't place her or Melvin either. There is something about them both though. On the other hand, the Prince is easy enough to identify."

"Really?" Percy sounded skeptical.

"Darien Chiba was once Endymion, the Prince of Earth and is now the infamous Tuxedo Mask."

"I should have known. No wonder the two of you act like you're related. He was your cousin during the Silver Millennium!" Percy chuckled. He stopped suddenly when he felt the hand rubbing his ears begin to tremble. "Cassie? You used an attack, didn't you?" He sat up on her stomach and stared down at her in disapproval.

Cassie met his stare with exhausted, pain-filled, unrepentant eyes.

Percy sighed and stretched back out along the top of her body. "I wish you wouldn't risk it. You are much too frail for the strain of using your mystical attacks."

"I will do my duty, Perseus. No matter the cost." 

Percy shook his head at the steel in her brittle voice. "I know milady, I know." He laid his head in the hollow between her breasts and proceeded to purr his trembling charge to sleep. As they lay in the darkness, Perseus turned his thoughts to the first time he had seen Cassandra, almost four years ago now.

Next time on Sailor Moon: Serenity's Court:

We find out how Perseus and Cassandra first meet in: _The Secret Origins of Sailor Athena_.

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	4. The Secret Origins of Sailor Athena

Chapter Three: The Secret Origins of Sailor Athena

Four years ago

Perseus, Artemis, and Luna were awakening from their millennia-long sleep in the cryogenic capsule. Percy had been the first to rouse enough for coherent thought. He focused sleep-blurred eyes on the figure standing above him. The green-haired woman stooped to his level, her staff held carefully in one hand while the other reached out to scratch him on his whitening ears.

"Greetings Perseus."

"Pluto…" Percy's voice rusty from long disuse. He coughed to clear it. "Where am I? And what are you doing here?"

The Guardian of Time smiled down at the cat. "As direct as always Percy." She paused to lift the cat from his capsule. She placed him on the floor and rocked back on her heels. The Time Staff was balanced across her knees as she studied him through the impassive mask required by her duties. "You are on Earth. Do you remember how you came to be here?"

"Not really," Percy frowned, as much as a cat can frown. "I remember fragments of a great battle. I remember loss, fear, pain…more flashes of emotion than anything else." He paused, eyes wandering aimlessly around the chamber. "Queen Serenity!" His head snapped back around to Pluto. "Where is the Queen?!!"

"You remember more than I thought you would, although that shouldn't surprise me considering your long association with the Planet of Memory." A noisy yawn from Artemis's capsule distracted her for a second. "I don't have much time. Percy, you must trust me." Red eyes met green ones for an intense moment. Percy nodded slowly. "Thank you… Listen carefully. The others must not know of me."

"Why?"

"It is necessary. You three have important duties to perform. The Earth is in great danger. The seal that Queen Serenity put on the Negaverse is weakening and the Enemy is beginning to stir. The Sailor Scouts must be found and prepared to face this menace. You, Perseus, are to find Sailor Athena. The two of you will serve as a vanguard for the rest. Artemis is to find Sailor Venus, Code-name Sailor V. They will slow the Negaverse until the others are awoken. Luna is to find Sailor Moon and the other members of the Inner Guard. Their duty is to find and protect the Moon Princess. You will all find the things that you need in your sub-space pockets."

"How will we find these girls?"

Pluto waved her staff and three swirling portals appeared. "These will take you to the times and places that you are needed. You will have to rely on your instincts from there. Remember Luna and Artemis must not know of me. Their memories and yours will return as needed. It is a fine path we must walk to save this planet." Pluto stood and began to walk away.

"Pluto!"

The Time Guardian stopped her back to Perseus. "Yes?"

"Serenity's dead isn't she." It was a statement, not a question.

"The Queen is dead, long live the Queen," she intoned, then with a wave of her staff she created a portal, stepped through it and was gone.

Percy waited patiently until the two younger Guardian Cats were awake enough to listen and then explained as much as he was allowed to them. Luna was indignant, and demanded to know more. Artemis just sat there, allowing the female to protest with his face set in a 'why me?' expression. Perseus finally just snapped at them.

"You are Guardian Cats! Stop complaining like a couple of spoiled kittens! We have been called upon to do an important mission and, by the gods, we're going to do it!" his eyes blazed at the two before him. They both bowed their heads to the authority in his voice. Although their memories were very patchy, they knew that Perseus was the eldest, and thus most senior, Guardian Cat in the Solar System.

"You're right," Luna for once sounded contrite, "It is our duty and we'll do it."

Artemis just nodded. Percy didn't expect any more from him. It was his easy-going nature that made Artemis the perfect Cat for Venus with her appalling amount of energy and tendency to be obsessive. Perseus met each of their eyes once more before rising to his feet. 

"Till we meet again then. May the light of knowledge shine on your path." With the traditional Athenian farewell, Perseus walked into his portal and vanished.

After a few more minutes, Artemis and Luna said their good-byes and then left to find what destiny had in store for them.

*****************

Perseus stepped out of the portal into an alley. The gray tomcat wrinkled his nose at the stench rising from the rubbish-strewn pavement. He picked his way with finicky precision to the alley entrance. What he saw outside on the street astounded him. The noisy vehicles, scurrying people, and towering buildings were like nothing in his fragmented memories. Where were the open spaces? The trees? The gracious homes and neat farms? He backed deeper into the alley. Clearly this was going to be even harder than he had expected. Spying a metal ladder and balcony system on the building beside him, he began to climb. Once reaching the roof he lay down in a patch of sunlight and began to plan.

He dredged up every fragment of memory, every impression associated with Sailor Athena. Brown hair, gray eyes, even classical features that would allow her to mature to be a strikingly beautiful woman. Percy knew that she would be about fourteen years of age, so that narrowed the field some, though not enough considering the mass of humanity in this city. None the less, he was confident that if he saw her that he would recognize her.

The planet of Athena had been the Planet of Memory and Music before her destruction. Percy's one truly clear memory was of the devastation he felt when he was informed that his home and the vast majority of her people had been destroyed in a cataclysmic explosion that turned the whole planet into rubble.

He pushed the painful thought from his mind. Sailor Athena had always been more at ease with the Music part of her powers. She used them almost without thought. Percy smiled as he remembered the way music seemed to swirl around her like a cloud. She could shape the mood of almost any person or group by projecting the appropriate music into the situation. Her musical manipulations were a constant in the lives of all that associated with her.

Perseus snapped out of his reverie. "I'm getting as bad as young Artemis. Dozing in the sun like this. It's time to start looking for Athena." He climbed onto the ledge surrounding the edge of the flat roof. The city seemed to stretch forever with its massive towers of stone and glass. "Pluto said to rely on my instincts. I hope that they're in good working order, because it'll be like finding a ruby in the sands of Mars to find one young girl in all of these people." Percy hopped down onto the fire escape and began making his way down to the street. "The first order of business is to find a base, gather information about this city and then to start looking in earnest. Music will be the key, I'm sure of that."

Several hours later Perseus was in an abandoned building pouring over a map he had snatched from a street vendor as he munched on something called a 'hot-dog'. "So much has changed," he thought with a sigh, "How long did we sleep in those capsules for all of this to happen? On second thought, I probably don't want to know." He returned his wandering thoughts to the map. There was something about the section labeled 'Manhattan' that drew him. Since he was supposed to follow his instincts, he decided to start there. 

The next day found him wandering the streets in one of the more affluent sections of New York, The brownstones that lined the neatly kept streets were obviously the homes of the well to do. Percy was quick to discover that talking cats were not normal here and that strays were for the most part unwelcome. He sensed that his goal was near, but he couldn't find her. After several days, he was thoroughly disgusted and was thinking seriously about getting in touch with Sailor Pluto and trying to convince her to help him.

He lay down on a window ledge of yet another brownstone, feeling totally depressed. Something attracted his attention: somewhere nearby a girl was singing. He listened, motionless, until she stopped. He leapt onto the wall surrounding the minuscule backyard belonging to the brownstone. A girl was on her knees, busily painting a Styrofoam ball. Eight others were lined up nearby. Perseus studied the back of her bent neck for a moment before turning away, convinced it had been a false alarm. The girl put down the ball she had finished and pick up the next one. She began to absentmindedly sing again.

"I'm your Venus, I'm your fire. It's your desire…" Underneath the sound of her sweet voice, Percy could hear the faint sounds of the instruments backing her up. Instruments that didn't exist anywhere outside of her mind. The sounds came from empty air simply because the singer willed them to.

Perseus grinned widely. "Not Venus," he whispered, "Athena!"

************

Percy smiled again in the darkness of Cassandra's bedroom. Her trembling had stopped and he sensed her muscles begin to relax. He relaxed himself and slipped into sleep.

Cassie wasn't asleep. Although her body was almost recovered from the use of her powers in the fight with the Negaversian monster earlier that day, her mind was still racing. She smiled as she felt Percy heave a sigh in his sleep. The two of them had come a long way since the day he had found her in New York City.

*************

Cassie knelt in the midst of her project, Styrofoam ball in one hand, paintbrush in the other. She put one last stroke of orange paint on the ball and examined it critically. Still humming under her breath, she put the finished piece down. The planets were all now painted. She stared at the nine painted balls as she waited for the last of the paint to dry so that she could string them on the wire frame she had already made to hold her model of the solar system. She ran through the list of planets again in her mind. There were only nine planets in the system, but something in her insisted that something was missing. Once again she called out each of their names as she laid a light finger on the ball representing each planet.

"Mercury." A flash of intelligent blues eyes and matching blue hair flashed across her mind's eye. She shook it off. Strange images like that one had been popping into her head for a few months now and she had learned through necessity to at least pretend to ignore them.

"Venus." Blonde hair and an infectious giggle, a voice whispered, 'I am the goddess of Love!"

"Earth." A dark haired boy in a suit of armor smiled at her, as did the regal blonde girl with the strange hair-do in his arms.

"Mars." Fire rimmed violet eyes stared into hers.

She paused a moment at the gap between Mars and Jupiter before moving on.

"Jupiter." A distant crash of thunder echoed in her mind along with a sense of fierce protective loyalty.

"Saturn." Immense power sang around the young girl who smiled shyly at her.

"Uranus." Wind whipped up the proud warrior girl's short dark blonde hair.

"Neptune." An elegant girl held a violin in one hand and reached the other out to out to Cassie. 'I miss the music,' she whispered without moving her lips.

Cassie's hand was trembling as she reached the last planet. "Pluto." A green haired woman met her eyes gravely and nodded in greeting. 'Athena.' The word hung in her mind like smoke until she forced it from her.

The girl placed her hands flat on the ground before her. "What is wrong? What is missing? I have all of the planets here! There are only nine!" She desperately tried to convince herself.

"There were once ten." The sudden intrusion of a male voice made her jump. She spun, looking frantically for the source of the voice but there was no one there except for a gray cat with a crescent moon on its forehead. The cat ducked its forequarters as if bowing to the astonished fourteen-year-old.

"Oh man," she moaned. "Either I'm going nuts or that acrylic paint has a lot more kick to it than its supposed to."

"You're not crazy, my lady." Cassie sat down hard as she stared in disbelief at the cat.

"If I'm not crazy, then I must be on some kind of crazy trip," Cassie mumbled to herself. "All right, I'll play along. Who are you? Or better yet, what are you?"

"I am Perseus, Guardian Cat to Sailor Athena."

"Sailor Athena?" the confusion in the girl's eyes made Percy shake his head in consternation.

"Have the people of this time forgotten entirely about the Sailor Scouts?" The blank look he received was an ample answer. Percy walked up to the girl and sat down directly in front of her. "Let me start with a little background. The Sailor Scouts were female warriors that protected this solar system long ago. There was one for each planet except for the Earth. They carried the names and powers of their respective planets. They fought the forces of evil wherever they appeared. You, my dear… by the way what is your name?"

"Cassie, Cassandra Whitmore."

"Cassandra, you are the Sailor Scout of the Planet of Memory and Music: Sailor Athena!"

"There is no planet named Athena," Cassie protested.

"Like I said there were once ten planets in this system. Athena was destroyed long ago." Cassie turned back towards her unfinished project and stared for an endless moment at the space between Mars and Jupiter.

"The asteroid belt…" she breathed.

Percy nodded. "That is all that is left of Athena. She used to be the center of learning and the arts for the whole system, but the Negaverse destroyed her."

Cassie sat stunned. Intellectually, she knew that what the cat had claimed was preposterous. In fact, holding a conversation with a talking animal was just as impossible. But deep inside her, as she stared into the cat's grass-green eyes, she knew he was telling her the truth. The little voice inside that had been whispering to her urged her to accept his tale; that this was what she was born for.

Percy stared at the young girl's gray eyes and saw the struggle that she was engaged in. He made a sudden decision. "Let me give you proof that you are the Champion of Justice, Sailor Athena." He sprang into the air in a backflip. A pen appeared out of thin air and dropped to the ground. He pushed it towards Cassie. She picked it up and examined the silver-gray pen numbly. 

"Hold it up and say 'Athena Power!'" Perseus commanded.

Cassandra obeyed and in a burst of silver and burgundy power, Sailor Athena appeared for the first time in 25,000 years.

*************

Cassie smiled in the darkened room and reach up to scratch the ears of the cat on her stomach. It had been quite a trip since that eventful day. And she wouldn't have missed it for the world. The Sailor Scout finally closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Next Time on Sailor Moon: Serenity's Court:

The Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask get a big surprise in: _Hi Scouts! Meet the New Sailor!_

Back to the Table of Contents


	5. Hi Scouts! Meet the New Sailor!

Chapter Four: Hi Scouts! Meet the New Sailor!

A few weeks passed and life settled into a routine. School was going all right and Sailor Moon and the Inner Guard easily handled the one other monster attack that occurred. Cassie made few other friends outside of the group of girls. She did manage, however, to make a few enemies, especially among that group of high schoolers known far and wide as the 'in' crowd. They didn't appreciate Cassie refusing to join them, and the girls really didn't appreciate the attention that she received from the guys.

The one senior that Cassie did make friends with was a girl named Zoe Wilton. Zoe was in all of Cassie's senior classes. She was also an outsider in the close knit world of Crossroads High. Much to the surprise of the other students the new girl and the loner became close friends within a couple of days of meeting. 

Outside of school, Sailor Athena and Perseus were busy trying to locate the source of the monsters that were beginning to pop up again. If they were indeed Dark Kingdom youma, then something must have survived the battle between Princess Serenity and the Negaforce empowered Queen Beryl. The other Scouts did not seem to realize that there might be a new menace brewing somewhere in the Negaverse. 

************

"We're not getting anywhere Percy. I think that we are going to have to reveal ourselves to the others. I don't think we're going to find something concrete enough to base anything on." Cassie and Percy were sitting on Cassie's bed going through a huge pile of paper that had overflowed onto every other flat surface in the room, including a good portion of the floor. "The reports coming in from our contacts are practically useless. Even the results from the scans from the satellites are so gabbled that I can hardly make heads or tails of them."

"The satellites are doing pretty well considering they were put in orbit over 25,000 years ago. Even crystal technology wears out eventually." Percy studiously avoided looking at his charge.

"You're evading the issue Perseus." Cassie shook her fist at the gray tomcat. Her bedroom door swung open with a bang. Both occupants of the room jumped a mile. They glared at the intruder.

"What's going on Cass? Planning another assault on the Tower of London?" Christopher Whitmore sauntered into his sister's bedroom. "How's it going Fuzzball?"

"The name is Perseus. Like in the Greek hero?!" Percy growled with mock exasperation. Christopher had known about Percy and his sister's alter ego, Sailor Athena, almost from the beginning, a little over 4 years ago now. Percy had been forced to inform Chris of the situation himself after Cassie gone catatonic due to over-extending her newly awoken powers.

************

Four years ago

Perseus and his Sailor Scout had begun almost immediately to gather what information they could about the Negaverse after finding one another. The pair followed rumors to a place in Central Park that was gaining a reputation as a place where people disappeared. It was immediately apparent that it was a Negaverse plot when a six armed youma leapt out of the bushes at the fourteen year old girl. She had transformed and after an intense but short battle had destroyed the creature. 

"You know Percy, I could get to like this Sailor Scout stuff!" Cassie smiled down at the cat in her arms as they made there way back to the house.

"You're doing just fine, but don't get cocky kid!" The cat mock glared at the giggling girl.

"Who do you think you are, Fuzzball, Han Solo?" Cassie giggled harder as Percy rolled his eyes. 'It's nice to now know why the image of Alderaan blowing up always effected me so. It's just like what must have happened to Athena.' She slipped into a subway station in order to catch the train back to Manhattan. As she slipped her token into the turnstile, she felt the beginning twinges of a distant pain. She ignored it; sure that it was just a normal side effect to battling evil energy-stealing monsters.

When they got back to the brownstone, Percy and Cassie went up to her room. Percy jumped up into the window to take a well-deserved nap. A sudden thud from behind him startled him right off of the ledge. He surged to his feet when he realized that it was Cassie. He ran to her terrified. She was unconscious and as he watched she stopped breathing. Frantic, he charged from the room to find help.

Christopher was sitting in the living room watching afternoon cartoons. Perseus flung himself into the startled twelve-year-old's arms. "Christopher, you must help your sister!" the cat yelled.

Chris yelped and flung the animal from him. "You can talk! How?"

"There is no time for this, Cassandra's not breathing!" The cat ran back up the stairs to Cassie's bedroom. Christopher followed dazedly. When he saw his sister lying in the floor as still as death, he leapt in to action. The lessons in CPR that he had learned in Boy Scouts ran through his head and he chanted them like a mantra as he knelt by the pale girl. After several minutes of rescue breathing, Cassie finally began to breathe on her own again. 

The brush with death required detailed explanations from both Perseus and Cassandra. Christopher had to hear the whole story, or at least as much as the Guardian Cat could dig out of his fractured memories, of the Sailor Scouts. Cassandra was forced to give a complete run down of the events that led to her collapse.

After listening for a good long while as Cassie and Percy debated the reason for her adverse reaction, Christopher broke in. "Look, if Cass gets her powers from a blown up planet, then maybe her powers are broken too." Scout and Cat stared at the young boy. "And I hope you know that whatever else goes on, I am going to be involved. There is no way I am losing my sister to some evil force or to her own powers without a fight." The boy crossed his arms across his chest and met their eyes fiercely.

It was then that Perseus, Guardian Cat to Sailor Athena, had realized that his charge's powers were a two edged sword as dangerous in their own way as the Silver Crystal, and that he had gained another ally in the quest against the Negaverse. He nodded to the boy. "You're right, we will have to think of another way to deal with the Negaverse. One that doesn't pose such a threat to Cassie."

It had taken Chris and Percy both to convince Cassie that she would do no good in the fight against the Negaverse if she died in some minor battle due to her own powers backfiring. She reluctantly agreed. Determination pooled in her eyes as the last of vestiges of childhood disappeared from her face. The fourteen year old girl became a cool, competent adult over the next few months as she, her suddenly mature little brother, and her Guardian Cat planned their part in the fight against the greatest evil to ever threaten the Earth. 

The other Scouts would fight the pitched battles with the forces of evil while Sailor Athena fought from the shadows. She became the intelligence service for the reborn members of Princess Serenity's court. She worked tirelessly to establish a network of informants using every trick in the book and some that she had invented on her own. With help from Sailor Pluto, she had gotten the ancient system of relay and watcher satellites scattered through out the solar system going again. There were gaps in the system where satellites had been destroyed over the millennia, but the remains were still much better than anything else available to track the evidence of incursions from the Negaverse. The information that she, Chris, and Perseus painstakingly gathered was dumped into the one remaining working mainframe computer in the Moon Kingdom. From there the information was sent out to Mercury's computer or was accessed by Luna and Artemis through the hidden links in the games at the Crown Arcade. Unfortunately, it was a one way service, which explained why Cassie hadn't know who the other Scouts were in real life until she had met them in civilian and Scout forms.

*********************

Present day

"What ever Fuzzball. Need some help with this mess?" the boy waved his hand at the papers strewn across the otherwise neat room. He cleared a spot on the floor and sat down.

"I was just saying, before some Neanderthal came barging in here," Chris put on his 'who me?' innocent look. Cassie snorted and continued, "I think that we're going to have to reveal what little we know to the other Sailor Scouts. In person, or they're not likely to believe it."

"Do you know the identities of the other Scouts?" Chris perked up at the thought.

"I'm pretty sure of Princess Serenity, the Inner Guard, and Endymion."

"Who are they?" Chris demanded.

"That is not my secret little brother. If they want you to know who they are, they'll have to tell you themselves." Chris looked mutinous. "Look Chris, if they knew my secret identity, would you like them to start telling their relatives?"

"No…" Chris sighed. "I hate it when my sister's logic goes against me."

"You should be used to it. After all, I am Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom!" Cassie struck an absurd pose on the bed.

"Some goddess!" Chris sneered playfully, "More like a demigod, a minor demigod."

"Anyway," Perseus cut in before a full-fledged insult match could begin. "I still don't think that you should reveal yourself. It's bad enough that Sailor Athena is now known to exist. I don't want to risk you."

"I can't risk not telling the other Sailor Scouts about our information. What if the Dark Kingdom really is on the rise again?" Cassie stared down at her mentor with steely eyes. The big gray tomcat, now starting to go white on the muzzle and around his ears, stared back undaunted.

"I can go to Luna or Artemis and tell them what little we know," Percy stated.

"That is a possibility," Cassie admitted. She was going to say something more when something began to beep.

"What's that?" Chris asked.

"It's my communication compact. I set it to monitor other Scouts communicators." She flipped open the silver compact. There was no picture this time, but voices could be clearly heard. Sailor Moon was calling frantically for help. A monster was attacking in downtown. The other Scouts responded, but except for Sailor Jupiter, they were all too far away to get there in time to be of help. Except that is for Sailor Athena. 

"I think that this might just have been taken out of our hands." Cassie stood up and pulled out her transformation pen. "Athena Star Power!"

No matter how many times he watched his sister transform, Christopher was always overwhelmed by the raw display of the power Cassie commanded. Her body lifted off the ground, spinning gracefully. Millions of tiny gray musical notes and burgundy Greek letters swirled in a cloud around her. Dancing points of light coalesced into crystalline matrix around her. The gray and burgundy matrix shattered and Sailor Athena stood where Cassandra Whitmore had been. She posed for a brief second and then turned and opened the French doors leading out on to her balcony.

"Athena!" She stopped and looked back at her brother, "Be careful, sis."

"Don't used your mystical attacks!" Percy commanded, his fear for her blazing in his green eyes.

Athena pulled a long slender bladed sword from her dimensional pocket. "I'll try to just use this." The warrior grinned and then ran out of the room. Her brother and her mentor watched her vault from her balcony to the roof and from there away towards battle.

"Put all of these papers away before your parents see them. I'm going to follow her." Perseus headed out after his Sailor Scout.

"If you need me, call me on my communicator!" Chris called after the Guardian Cat.

"I will!"

****************************

Sailors Moon and Jupiter were having a difficult time. There were two monsters this time working together to attack the Scouts. One was almost human looking, except that was a mottled puce green and its arms were curved blades from the elbow down. The other monster was a giant lizard that walked on its hind legs and occasionally spat acid. Sailor Jupiter was jumping in and out of range of the blade monster's reach alternating physically attacking the thing and throwing lightning at it. The lightning attacks did little other than enrage the thing further.

Sailor Moon was having a harder time keeping the lizard creature occupied. She would bounce her tiara off of the lizard's head to gain its attention and then let the thing chase her around the street while dodging the acid it spat at her. She managed to lead the godzilla wanna be away from Jupiter and her monster. Luckily the thing wasn't very bright and the tactic was enough to keep it from attacking the few remaining conscious (and not so very bright for staying around to watch) civilians in the area. The girls were tiring, but without the other Scouts to help there was little else they could do.

Sailor Jupiter finally made a mistake after fighting her monster for a good fifteen minutes. She lost her footing on curb and fell over onto her back. The monster roared in triumph and raised its blade-arm for the final stroke. Jupiter closed her eyes and tensed for the blow. It never came. She opened her eyes to see Sailor Athena between her and the monster. Athena had caught the monster's blade-arms on her sword. 

Jupiter scrambled to her feet. "Boy am I glad to see you!"

"Glad to be of service," Sailor Athena replied flippantly. "Let's see what we can do about this thing!"

"You got it girl!" Jupiter grinned fiercely and returned to the battle. Between the two warrior Scouts, they were able to begin to score on the monster. Within a few minutes, Athena managed to break the monster's blade right off of one of its arm. The monster was on the defensive, but Jupiter's lighting still didn't affect it. 

"Distract it and when I tell you, hit it with all you've got!" Athena yelled at the tall brunette.

Jupiter gave her a thumbs up. "Hey you, Negatrash! Your mother was a can opener!" The monster roared in fury and charged her. While the monster was occupied, Athena leapt silently into a high flip over it. At the top her arch she spun her sword once and drove it with the full weight of her enhanced Scout strength into the creature's back. She released the sword's hilt and landed on her feet behind the thing. The blade monster spun around, trying to reach the sword in its back. When it caught sight of Athena, it reached for her.

Athena quickly backed away from the lumbering beast. "Jupiter! The sword! Hit the sword with your lightning! It'll act as a channel!"

"Right! I call on the powers of Love and Nature to help me vanquish this monster! Jupiter! Thunder! Dragon!" The massive charge of electricity hit the hilt of the sword sticking out of the beast's back. It screamed in anguish before turning into a pile of dust. "Dusted!" Jupiter caroled. She ran over to remains of the monster and picked up Athena's sword. There wasn't a mark on it. "This is some weapon Athena! Where did you get it?"

The gray-clad Scout smiled as she took the sword out of Jupiter's hand. "It's an old family heirloom." The two girls grinned at one another for a second while they tried to get their breath back. "Hey, where is Sailor Moon?" Athena panted.

A sudden scream split the air. "That answers that question," Jupiter said wryly, "This way Athena!" They ran toward the sound. Sailor Moon had lured her lizard monster into a courtyard surrounded on three sides by high walls and containing a huge concrete modern art sculpture. The lizard had finally trapped the agile runner in a corner. 

"Someone help!" Sailor Moon shrieked. The lizard opened its mouth to spit a glob of acid at the super-heroine. 

A flash of red streaked across the creature's nose. It yelped and grabbed its wounded snout.

"Tuxedo Mask!" chorused the Scouts.

"It's not very nice to spit at a lady!" The man in the tuxedo was perched on the wall above Sailor Moon. He jumped down by her.

"Took you long enough Muffin." Sailor Moon gazed up at the tall hero.

"Sorry, I was in the middle of a test." Tuxedo Mask scooped up Sailor Moon and jumped out of the corner. They landed near the huge statue.

"Its all right," Sailor Moon murmured. The lovers gazed into each other's eyes, for the moment oblivious to the rest of the world.

"Excuse me folks, but what should we do about the monster?" Jupiter interrupted the mushy moment.

Tuxedo Mask snapped back to reality. "Attack it of course."

"Conventional attacks don't seem to bother these things much." Athena answered as she stepped out from behind the tall brunette Scout.

"Who are you?" Tuxedo demanded.

"I'm Sailor Athena… Move!!!" 

Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon dodged the charging lizard-creature. It slid to a halt underneath the towering surrealistic statue.

"If you can't go through a problem sometimes you can go around it," Athena stated. She slid her sword back into her sub-space pocket. She powered up for her attack. "Athena Sonic…" This time instead just two javelins, she continued spinning and throwing until six of the silver spears of power were imbedded in the statue. "Shatter!" The javelins exploded in sequence, causing the towering mass of stone to collapse exactly where Athena wanted it: on top of the Negaverse monster.

Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Moon, and Sailor Jupiter gaped at the pile of rubble for a moment and then turned face Athena. "You destroyed the statue!" Sailor Moon finally squeaked.

"Yes I did." Athena collapsed to her knees. Sailor Jupiter moved toward her as the pile of stones erupted like a volcano. The lizard-creature stumbled out, bleeding green blood from a dozen wounds. "Finish it!" Sailor Athena ordered before passing out.

Sailor Moon whipped out the Spiral Moon Rod and dusted the monster. When she turned back to the fallen Scout nestled in Tuxedo Mask's arms; she noticed a gray cat watching from a short distance. The moon on its forehead marked it as a Guardian Cat. It padded over to the little group.

"Please take her some place to recover," he begged in a small voice, his desperate helplessness evident in his green eyes. 

"My apartment is nearby. Let's take her there," Jupiter offered.

Tuxedo Mask nodded and leapt off with the unconscious warrior in his arms. Sailor Moon followed her lover, and Jupiter brought up the rear with the cat in her arms.

**********

Surging, bone deep pain finally drove her back to consciousness. She sighed as she recognized the residue of injudicious use of her mystical attacks. When Sailor Athena opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a pair of green eyes beneath a crescent moon.

"Percy…" she whispered. The cat sitting on her chest leaned forward to rub his chin across her cheek.

"Your going to be the death of me yet, milady. You about gave me a heart attack," Percy said softly.

"I about gave myself one, Fuzzball." Athena wrapped one arm around the cat and used the other to push herself up into a sitting position. She let Percy slip down into her lap as she surveyed the room. She was on a bed with a green sprig-patterned coverlet on it. The bedroom appointments were very delicate and feminine in shades of green, pink, and pale yellow. She didn't recognize any of it.

"Where are we?"

"Sailor Jupiter's apartment."

"And the others?"

The cat jerked his head toward the partially open door. "In the living room. All of them are here."

"All?" Athena raised one eyebrow in question.

"Well, everyone except the Outer Guard."

"Let's not keep them waiting then." As the weary Scout started to get up, Percy jumped out of her lap and onto the floor. After Athena stood up, her knees buckled and she almost fell. By clinging to a nearby dresser, she managed to stay on her feet. Through shear force of will, she made her pain-ridden body stand and walk almost naturally, albeit slowly. Perseus opened his mouth to say something, but the look in her gray eyes- darkened almost to black by pain- stopped him. He simply settled for walking beside her as she crossed the seemingly endless floor towards the door.

****************

"Why did you bring her here?! We know nothing about her and now she is sure to figure out who you really are!" Sailor Mars was in fine form. You could almost see the fire dancing around the enraged girl's head.

"Hey! This girl saved my life today! And she saved yours the last time!" Jupiter was beginning to get a bit miffed. She stood up from her place on the couch to loom over the smaller girl. Mars didn't look impressed.

"That doesn't matter!" Mars poked a finger at the tall brunette. "Our duty is to protect the Princess! What if this Athena chick is just trying to get close enough to get her, huh?"

"Now Mars…" Sailor Moon started to protest when another voice broke in.

"If I had intended to harm Serenity, Raye, I would have done so already." Five Sailor Scouts and one tuxedo-clad super-hero turned to stare at the girl in the bedroom doorway.

Mars finally broke the dumb-founded silence. "How, how do you know…?" she stuttered.

Athena smiled wanly. "Because it was obvious once I knew that Luna was Serena's cat. Luna would never stray far from the Princess and since the four of you girls are so close to her, I knew you must be the Inner Guard." Athena took a step forward, swaying slightly. "From there it was only logical to conclude that Serena's cute older boyfriend is also the dashing Tuxedo Mask."

Tuxedo Mask rose silently to his feet eyes narrowing behind his domino. "You seem to think you know who we are. Now who are you?" he demanded.

The gray cat at Athena's feet arched his back and bristled his tail. "I don't like your tone young man!" he hissed, clearly prepared to attack the much, much bigger man.

"Perseus!" the whip-crack of authority in Athena's voice was unmistakable. The guardian Cat immediately snapped to a four-legged version of military attention. "It is a valid question," she went on much more gently. She smiled again, softly, sadly. She stared directly into Tuxedo Mask's hidden eyes. "During the Silver Millennium, I was the crown princess of the planet Athena, and first cousin to the crown prince of Earth, Endymion." She gave a small nod to the tall boy. His breath caught as glamour hiding her true identity began to fade. "I'm surprised that you haven't recognized me in this life, Dare." Athena lowered her head and let her Scout form slip away in a flash of silver light. Cassandra Whitmore raised her head to meet the shocked boy's eyes again. "Surprise Darien," she whispered.

Again a dumb founded silence filed the small apartment. Sailor Moon finally walked over to Cassie. "This is so cool! I bet you're going to be a great Scout!" The meatball-headed Scout had a huge grin on her face as she looked up at the taller girl.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Cassie returned the smile. Then she swayed on her feet and almost collapsed again, but Sailor Moon was able to steady her. The leader of the Scouts smile faded away as she realized how haggard Cassie looked.

"You shouldn't be up!" Sailor Moon jerked her head at Sailor Venus, who got up from her armchair. The two of them the led Cassandra do the chair and made her sit down in it. Perseus followed along at their heels, his eyes never leaving his charge. Mercury pulled out her computer and moved to stand over the weary girl. She began typing furiously. 

"What is wrong with you?" asked Tuxedo Mask as he came to kneel beside the girl whom he considered his little sister.

"It's nothing. It will pass eventually." Cassie patted the hand he had placed on her knee.

"I've never seen readings like these. It's like your power aura is full of cracks." Mercury said absentmindedly as she studied the read out on her computer. She activated her visor to take more readings.

"That make sense, considering the shape that my planet is in."

"The shape your planet is in? Where is your planet, anyway? I've never heard of Athena," Jupiter asked.

"That is part of a long story. Why don't you all power down and I'll tell you what I know." The girls looked at each other and then giggled. They powered down into their civilian forms. Tuxedo Mask followed suit after a moment.

"I'll get something for us to snack on," Lita called as she went into her kitchen.

"Food! Great I'm starving!" Serena exclaimed.

"Like that's news!" Raye drawled.

"Oh Raye! You're so mean!" The wailing began. Cassie and Darien exchanged long-suffering glances.

Perseus jumped up into Cassie's lap. "I'm going to head back to the house and tell Chris you're all right. He must be out of his head with worry by now." Cassie nodded. Percy ran over to an open window and jumped out.

Mina had caught the end of the quiet exchange. "Chris knows about you?" She was astonished and hurt.

"He knows who I am, but he doesn't know who the rest of you are." She smiled at the blonde. "Don't worry, he hasn't been hitting on you because you're Sailor Venus. He really does like you." Mina preened. "I knew that! After all I am the goddess of love!"

"Some goddess! What have you been doing? Luna and I have been searching for you everywhere!" Artemis declared as he and Luna leapt in the open window. "We have been so…" he trailed off as he caught sight of Cassie. "Meow, meow." He tried desperately to look like a normal cat, which hadn't been talking just thirty seconds earlier. The humans all started laughing while Luna just looked disgusted and hit him on the back of the head.

"Hello Luna, Artemis. I'm Cassandra, also known as Sailor Athena." Cassie said between giggles.

"Sailor Athena?" Luna asked.

"It's a long story. It started about four years ago…" Cassie told the assembled members of the Sailor Scout Team about meeting Perseus and about some of their adventures since then.

*****************

"So you, Percy, and Chris have been feeding us information ever since?" Amy asked. She was still typing and didn't look like she was going to stop anytime soon.

Cassie nodded. "That and picking off the odd monster."

"How could you fight monsters with your powers like they are?" Mina asked.

"Well, for the most part the monsters that are outside of Tokyo are generally much more like humans. That means that their powers are weaker and that they can be dealt with using something other than a mystical attack. Between Chris and I, we've able to take care of them with minimal help from our other associates."

"Associates?" Darien cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Associates. Safely anonymous associates." Cassie said flatly. Her eyes invited no further questions.

"I've often wondered why the Negaverse or whatever only attacks here. Except for that time in London, of course." Amy said into the brittle silence.

"That is because the Negaverse and this universe only touch at certain points, at least in a physical sense. Most of those points have ancient, locks I guess for lack of a better word, that keep the two separated. The reason that I went to London soon after you defeat Queen Ruby Mina was to activate the lock in England, Stone Hendge. There are others scattered about that perform the same duties: The Great Pyramids, both those in Egypt and those in Central America, the monoliths on Easter Island, and various others. But the place where the separation of our universe and the Negaverse is the thinnest is here in Japan. No doubt, that is why Queen Serenity sent us here after the fall of the Moon Kingdom."

"What about D-point?" asked Luna softly. The Scouts looked acutely uncomfortable about the mention of the place where they all died stopping Beryl.

"D-point is over the point where Beryl's kingdom once existed. It is well warded now," Cassie said softly, her eyes focused on something that only she could see. "I never did like that woman. I wish that I had done worse to her than just give her the cold shoulder."

"What?" Serena gasped. Everyone's attention snapped back down on Cassie. She blinked. 

"What is it?" Cassie asked, astounded by the reaction.

"You knew Beryl?" Raye snarled.

The confusion in Cassie's eyes only grew. "Of course! We all did during the Silver Millennium. Don't you remember?"

"No," Amy said softly, finally putting down her computer. "We don't remember much, except for the very end, the last battle when we all… died." Cassie looked around at their sorrow filled faces.

"I didn't realize. I don't remember much myself, but between Perseus and I, we have managed to put some things together." She paused looking at each of them in turn. "I'll have to get my notes, but I promise that I will tell you everything I remember." 

Perseus bounded into the apartment through the window. He studied the tableau for a moment before interrupting. "Have you finished telling your tale, my lady?"

Cassie waved him over into her lap. He curled up comfortably, facing the crowd of young people. Cassie began stroking him. "Yes, I finished. But now we need to discuss the current problem."

"Current problem?" Darien snapped out of his private reverie.

"Amy?" Cassie turned suddenly cool, professional eyes on the blue haired girl.

"Yes?" 

"Do you still have the readings on that armor-plated thing we fought the first time we met?"

"Of course! Why?"

"Would you pull them up please?" Cassie commanded politely. Amy quickly complied. Everyone else just watched, taken aback by the sudden change in Cassandra's manner.

"Now would you please compare them to the basic readings of each kind of monster that you have faced." Amy complied, with a slow stirring of fear worming its way through her. She gasped when she got the results.

"What is it Amy?!" Serena demanded.

"It's, it's just not possible." Amy muttered as she typed furiously on her palm-top.

"Amy?!!" Raye pleaded.

"It was a Dark Kingdom youma." Amy finally said in a stunned tone.

"A youma," Serena breathed.

"It can't be!" Luna protested. "Serena destroyed Beryl and the Negaforce!"

"She did," Cassie agreed. "But that was just one being, or two if you can really count a concentration of Negative energy a being. The Dark Kingdom is huge, and the Negaverse is every bit as big as our universe. It would have been almost impossible for even the Silver Crystal to destroy all of that, even if Serena really was capable of allowing that much gratuitous destruction. It would have been easy for some of Beryl's minions, especially those with the intelligence to see which way the wind was blowing, so to speak, to leave before the confrontation between Beryl and Princess Serenity." 

Serena cowered back against Darien. "I can't believe it. Are you, are you sure that Beryl at least is gone?" Darien wrapped his arms around his soulmate.

"Beryl is definitely dead and gone. The crystal satellites recorded the entire battle and confirmed the destruction of the Beryl/Negaforce composite." Cassie sighed, looking suddenly much older than her eighteen years as lines of strain were emphasized by the growing shadows. "My contacts are working to confirm anything about this newest threat, but they are picking up very little. Either they have just started operations, or who ever is in charge is a lot more cautious than Beryl ever was."

"That is the scariest part," said Percy speaking up for the first time. "A cautious leader would be much more dangerous than Queen Beryl was capable of being. Her own obsessive, paranoid, destructive tendencies were her greatest weaknesses, and our strongest allies."

"How are we going to handle this?" Serena raised her head from where it was buried in Darien's shoulder. "Are we even capable of handling this?"

"Hey, none of that Meatball Head!" Raye shook her Princess's shoulder.

"Yeah! We can handle anything anyone throws at us!" Mina exclaimed.

"Yes, you girls handled Beryl and her generals, Alan and Ann, the whole NegaMoon Family, and Mistress 9 and Pharaoh 99. You've defeated youma, cardians, droids, and daemons. You'll defeat anyone who threatens this planet!" Luna said with Artemis nodding emphatically along.

"Besides," Lita grinned. "We kicked the Dark Kingdom's butt with just the five of us and Tuxie here. It should be a piece of cake to do it again with all ten Sailor Scouts!"

"Don't worry, Highness," Cassie shooed Perseus out of her lap and stood up. "You now have access to my entire information network. And knowledge is the most potent weapon anyone can have." 

"So you say," Raye stared at the almost stranger with suspicious eyes. Cassie met them with the calm coolness that she had developed over four years of fighting a secret, dangerous war with only a cat and a young boy for help.

Serena stood due to some inner prompting and faced the gray-eyed girl. Cassandra met her eyes, unflinching. "Princess Serenity, I offer you my fealty. I offer the strength of my arms, the knowledge of my mind, and the blood of my heart." Perseus stood regally at his charge's side. As Cassandra sank into a deep curtsy, he lowered his forequarters in a bow. The sudden archaic formality threw everyone off guard, except for Serena. She stood for a moment looking down at the bent heads before her.

"There is no need for such formality, Cassandra," Serena was speaking in the crisp, proper tones that always heralded the presence of the Princess part of her personality. "Your loyalty and abilities are not in question." She paused and swept her eyes around the gathering of her dearest friends of two lifetimes. She reached out and put a small hand under Cassie's chin and lifted her back to her feet. "Welcome to the Sailor Scouts, Cassandra, Sailor Athena." Tears sparked in Cassie's eyes as Serena hugged her. "Thank you, Highness," Cassie whispered through her tear closed throat. 

"Group Hug!" crowed Mina and snatched up Artemis. She then proceeded to crush him between her body and Cassie's back. All the other Scouts gathered around in a joyous embrace. Darien looked on with a huge, foolish grin on his face. Perseus smiled serenely at the spectacle. Luna walked over to him and rubbed her cheek along his before sitting down by the aging cat. "Welcome home Perseus." Percy wrapped his tail around the smaller cat. "It's good to finally be here… daughter."

Somewhere inside the giggling mass of girl, Artemis was gasping, "Air, Air!"

Next Time on Sailor Moon: Serenity's Court:

Cassie discovers something wonderful and frightening in: _Cassie's Date_.

Back to the Table of Contents


	6. Cassie's Date

Chapter Five: Cassie's Date

Several days after the impromptu meeting at Lita's apartment, Cassandra was in the Crown Arcade after school. She was sitting alone at the very last table of the snack bar section surrounded by books and paper. She was busy punching something into her graphing calculator when a cold drink suddenly appeared at her elbow. She looked up startled. "Andrew!"

"Hey Cass, what are you up to?" the blonde arcade guy smiled down at her. The two had become close friends upon their first meeting, due no doubt to both of them loving to tease Darien into stuttering distraction. 

Cassie put down the calculator and stretched. "Calculus homework."

"Ooh, I'm sorry!"

She laughed. "It was my choice to take the blasted class. I hate math!" She started rubbing her sore neck; math always made her so tense.

"Here, let me." Andrew began massaging her neck and shoulders. 

"Mmmm. That feels wonderful." Cassie began to relax under the rhythmic kneading of the boy's hands. She didn't know why she felt so at ease around Andrew, but at times like these, there was no way she was going to question what was clearly a gift from a benevolent God.

After a time, she leaned her head back to look at the blonde standing behind her. "What can I do to repay you, kind sir?" Andrew took it as a signal to stop and pulled out a chair, turned it around backwards and straddled it.

"Well, you can start by going to dinner and a movie with me tonight."

Cassie blinked, surprised, but then the little demon that sat on her shoulder whispered in her ear. Her eyes sparkled as she looked coyly away from Andrew. "I'd love too…except…"

"Except what?"

"Weeeeell, what about that girlfriend of yours? The one in Africa? The one Lita and Mina told me all about. Rita isn't it?" she flashed innocent eyes at him.

"Well, umm, you see…" Andrew turned red and began rubbing the back of his head. "We, well, I." Cassie listened to the unfortunate boy sputter embarrassedly for as long as she could before breaking into helpless giggles.

Andrew just stared at her aghast. After a few minutes, she was able to gain control, though it was difficult when she looked back at Andrew's stricken face. 

"What's so funny?" he asked after gathering up the tattered ends of his dignity.

Cassie wiped her streaming eyes. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist." Andrew waited with exaggerated patience. "I know that you and Rita broke up months ago. And that you aren't telling people as a defense against Lita and Mina."

Andrew gaped. "How did you know? Did Darien tell you?"

"Oh no, Darien wouldn't betray a confidence. Mina found out somehow that the two of you broke up. She thinks that you're not telling everyone because you're, how did she put it, 'mourning your lost love.'"

"Rita and I both decided that our relationship wasn't working!"

Cassie nodded. "I figured as much. I thought that it was much more likely a method of keeping those two love-sick girls at bay."

"They're nice girls," Andrew protested, "but…"

"They can be a bit much." Cassie smiled at him in perfect understanding.

Andrew grinned back, "Well if you're done trying to make me look absolutely foolish, will you answer my question?"

"Like I said, I would love to go out," Cassie blushed, averting her eyes for a second due to real shyness this time.

"Great," Andrew grinned even wider, "I'll pick you up at 7, okay?"

"Perfect. Do you know where I live?"

"Yes!" Andrew blushed as she cut her eyes back at him. Cassie shook her head with a smile. 

"Had this all planned did you?" 

"For you, my lady, I'd plan anything!" he kissed her hand gallantly before going back to his arcade guy duties. 

"Fresh." Cassandra whispered under her breath before returning to her Calculus with a light heart.

**********

Later that afternoon at the Hino's shrine

The Scout meeting was in full swing when Cassie arrived. She glanced around Raye's sitting room and noticed one glaring absence.

"Where is Serena?" she called as she stepped through the sliding door.

"Her mom grounded her for failing that last Local History test." Amy said quietly, while never even looking up from her books.

"Yeah, that Meatball Head is in big trouble this time. Maybe it'll teach her to study once in a while." Raye griped. The five girls and three cats exchanged glances. "Nyaah!"

"Well," Cassie drawled, "Is there anything important to discuss that can't possibly wait?"

Mina, Raye, and Lita's heads all snapped up when a strange note in her voice registered with them.

"No," Luna said confusedly, "Nothing has happened since the meeting yester..."

"Who is he?" Lita interrupted abruptly.

"What do you mean?" Cassie asked trying and failing to look innocent.

"Who. Is. The. Guy?" Lita repeated.

"Yeah and where are you going with him?" Raye added.

"Spill it girl!" Mina commanded.

Cassie looked back and forth between the three girls and sighed at their implacable faces. "Andrew and I are going to dinner and to a movie tonight," she said reluctantly.

"Andrew? You mean arcade guy, cute enough to drool over, Andrew?!" Lita squeaked.

"Yes," Cassie said even more reluctantly. She had a Bad Feeling about this.

"I knew it! I knew that he liked you!" Mina crowed.

"Details! We need details!" Raye yelled. 

"I think that I told you enough. I've got to go, he's picking me up at 7. Bye now!" Cassie scooped up Perseus and fled before the startled cat could say a word.

"Poor girl," Luna said softly to Amy. Amy nodded.

"Could you look at this Luna, Artemis? I think that I've isolated the differences between these new youma and the old ones." The girl and the two cats crowded in around Raye's PC.

Meanwhile, the other three girls huddled together.

"You know, it would be a shame if Cassie and Andrew's date got messed up due to a youma attack." Mina said with an evil gleam in her eye.

"Yeah that would be horrible." Lita agreed.

"Maybe someone should try to make sure that they aren't disturbed." Raye added thoughtfully.

"She is one of our fellow Scouts! We have to stick together!" Mina grinned widely at her two cohorts. "We should tag along, just to keep them safe, of course."

"Of course!" Raye and Lita chorused.

************

Andrew opened the door to the car and handed Cassandra out. He then offered her his arm, which she accepted with a bit of false hauteur, before giggling. "I love that giggle of yours!" Andrew smiled down at his date; extremely pleased with the way the evening had gone. She smiled back up at the tall boy. Her head came just to the top of his shoulder.

They then strolled slowly up the walk to her house, talking and laughing with each other. They looked and acted like being together was the most natural and perfect thing in the world. The same couldn't be said about the three in a nearby clump of bushes.

***********

"Move over Raye! I can't see!"

"Stop shoving Lita!"

"Then move over!"

"I can't! I'm caught on this holly bush! Besides, I can't see either!"

"Will you two be quiet! I'm trying to hear!"

"What are they doing Mina?"

"They've stopped on the porch and are talking. Hey! Do you think they'll kiss?!"

"What?! Lita get me loose from this bush! I've got to see! Litaaaa!"

*************

Cassie stopped in mid-sentence to watch the wildly shaking bushes in the corner of her front yard. She sighed and shook her head.

"Is something wrong?" her escort asked.

"No, I just saw something. It might have been my cat Percy." 'It's not, but I can't tell him about our little spies. I'll just have to kill them later, very slowly and very, very painfully.' She smiled up at the tall boy and firmly put the incident out of her mind.

He smiled back down into her eyes. Something about his expression made her heart skip a beat. His brown eyes drew her into their depths and she felt something deep inside her respond and reach out to him. The power of Athena stirred in response and she fought to break free from Andrew's gaze before she lost control. As if he could sense her internal struggle, Andrew reached out and cupped his hand around the side of her face and jaw. That light, loving touch shattered Cassie's control and she felt a stab of pure terror as the power within her broke loose. That was before she felt the answering surge of power from Andrew. The two powers mingled and clashed invisibly around the pair, sounding like the cacophony of an orchestra warming up, with each instrument playing a wildly different melody. Then, with the suddenness of a snapping bowstring, the cacophony turned into perfect harmony; a harmony with so many over and undertones that it would take several lifetimes to pinpoint each crystalline note. 

The two stood mesmerized for what seemed like an eternity, but in truth was no more than a few seconds. Then Andrew pulled Cassandra into his arms and held tightly to the girl who had inexplicably become more precious to him that his own life. For her part, Cassie clung to him, elated and confused, as she tried to come to grips with what had just happened to her, to the both of them.

*************

Over in the clump of holly bushes, Mina and Raye froze when they sensed the surge of power from the pair on the porch. Lita looked back and forth between them in confusion.

"What's going on?" she hissed in frustration. Neither girl answered. Lita, never very patient, reached out and yanked both motionless girls to her. "What Is Going On?!!" she demanded, enunciating each word very precisely.

Mina blinked. "I, I don't know. Do you Raye?"

Raye jerked convulsively. "No, I don't, but those two just started radiating massive amounts of energy. It's almost like…" she trailed off.

"It's almost like what?!" Lita was practically jumping up and down.

"It's like when Serena and Darien rediscovered each other," Mina said faintly, her eyes locked out of focus.

"That means they're…" Raye whispered. 

The three girls' eyes met in disbelief. "Soulmates!!!" they chorused loudly. The resultant scramble for good vantagepoints should have shook the poor bushes into pieces.

****************

Andrew finally pulled away from Cassie enough to look down at her face. The disbelieving wonder on his face was enough to cause Cassie to begin to giggle.

"And what's so funny?" he demanded, trying to keep an answering laugh out of his voice.

"You, Andy!" the nickname slipped out without a thought. "You look like a little boy who just won a trip to Disney World!"

"Really?"

"Really." Andrew caught one of her hands with one of his, while he kept the other arm wrapped firmly around her waist. He brought the captured hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it. Cassie's eyes went wide with surprise. They got even wider when he looked back into her eyes. She sensed a sudden seriousness under the lingering echoes of power.

"Cass, will you marry me?" Cassie blinked in shock and tried to pull away from him, but he held onto her.

"You've got to be kidding! We've known each other for barely a month! This is our first date, for Harmony's sake!" she protested.

"It doesn't matter how long I've known you. You are the one for me, and I am the one for you. You felt whatever just happened to us! It was, was magic! I love you Cassie and I'm IN love with you." The calm voice in which Andrew spoke made the underlying passion that much more powerful. Cassie just stared at him as her heart sang anthems of joy and her intellect tried to drown her heart out by shouting 'What the hell are you thinking?! You can't marry him! Remember your duty! You're a Sailor Scout, first, foremost and always!'

Andrew grinned down at her and then with her hand still firmly clasped in his, got down on one knee. "Cassandra Whitmore, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

"Andy, I can't. I've got duties, obligations, not to mention that my parents would have a cow! This is just too soon, too sudden." The distress in her voice was very real and Andrew sensed it.

"All right," he climbed back up on his feet, still clutching her hand, "but I'm not going to take no for an answer. I'm sure that I can convince you to see things my way." He gave her a smug, cocky grin.

"Convince me?!" Cassie indignantly tried to yank her hand free. Andrew just yanked her back, right into his arms.

"Yes, convince you," he whispered before bending down to kiss her. Cassie struggled for a second, but then her free arm snaked up around to pull down on the back of his neck. Andrew then let go of her hand and wrapped both arms around her body and pulled her closer. The fiery, passionate kiss ended only when the need for oxygen became acute. 

Andrew leaned his forehead against Cassie's and said softly, "I can be very persuasive when I want to be. You can't resist me forever, my lady." He released her and stepped back. "Good night Cassandra."

Cassie said nothing before turning and fleeing into the house. Andrew shoved his hands into his pockets and whistled cheerfully as he walked back to his car.

***************

A short time after he drove away, three scratched up, shaken girls climbed out of a patch of holly bushes and made their slow way home.

Next Time on Sailor Moon: Serenity's Court

Cassie rediscovers an old friendship, a 25,000 year old one in _Best Friends Forever_. 

Back to the Table of Contents


	7. Best Friends Forever

Chapter Six: Best Friends Forever

The next day at the Scout meeting, very little Scout business was discussed.

"So Cassie," Serena said in a wheedling tone, "How did your hot date with Andrew go?"

"Hmm?" the older girl had been staring off into space, clearly not focused on the meeting, which was unusual to say the least. Cassandra was usually as intent on business as Amy or Luna.

"That must have been some date if you're still this, umm, distracted," Serena giggled.

Cassie glanced at her watch and rose to her feet. "It was, but if you want details, you'll have to ask those three," she nodded at Raye, Mina, and Lita. "I've got to go. I promised to meet Zoë at the library in fifteen minutes. See you later girls, Your Highness." She nodded goodbye to Serena and left, humming softly under her breath.

"What did she mean, ask you three?" Luna asked, the tip of her tail twitching as she turned suspicious amber eyes on the guilty looking Scouts.

"You didn't spy on them did you?" Amy asked in disbelief. The three culprits exchanged sheepish glances. "Oh you did, didn't you?" the blue haired girl shook her head disgustedly.

"So that's where you were last night!" Artemis glared down at Mina from atop a shelf.

"So what if I was Artemis?" Mina raised her chin in defiance.

"I can't believe you guys!" Serena exclaimed. Luna nodded in agreement before the Princess continued. "You followed Cassie and Andrew around on their date and didn't invite me?!" Luna fell right off of the table.

******************

Meanwhile at the arcade, Darien sat down at the counter, ordered his coffee, and began to grill his best friend.

"So what did you do with Cassie last?" 

Andrew looked at the dark haired boy for a second before going back to wiping down the counter. He didn't even bother to ask where he had heard about their date. "Oh just the usual stuff. Took her to dinner. Went to a movie. Took a long walk down by the lake in the park. Took her home. Proposed. Kissed her goodnight. Then I went home." The blonde arcade guy waited calmly for the explosion.

"You WHAT?!!"

********************

"He WHAT?!!!"

"Keep it down Zoë!" Cassie smiled blandly at the people who turned to stare at the disturbance to the library silence. "The whole world doesn't need to hear about it," she whispered between clinched teeth.

"You turned him down, right…Right?!" The eyes turned back to them and a librarian started in their direction.

"Yes," Cassie hissed. It was obvious that they needed more privacy. She stuffed her papers back into her backpack. "Come on." Cassie got up and led her friend upstairs to a huge room filled with bookcases filled to over flowing with millions of out of date magazines. They went to the very back corner and sat in the aisle under shelves of ancient National Geographics.

Zoë stared at her friend in silence. Cassie began to squirm under the unrelenting green eyes.

"What?" she finally asked.

"What happened after that?" Zoë demanded, exasperated.

Cassie's eyes unfocused as she thought of the intense moments of the preceding night. "I told him that I couldn't marry him." She paused until Zoë made an impatient gesture for her to continue. "Then he said that he'd convince me otherwise. Then he, he kissed me." Cassie blushed furiously.

Zoë grinned at her discommoded friend. "That must have been some kiss!"

"It was," breathed Cassie. "It liked to have curled my hair!" she continued in a normal, wry tone of voice.

"Hey! Maybe he can kiss me and straighten my hair!" Zoë pulled her long, curly dark blonde hair back into a low ponytail.

"Wait just a second! Just because I won't marry him doesn't mean I'll let you get your hooks into him!" She glared at Zoë until both broke into laughter.

"Seriously though," Cassie continued after the laughter had subsided, "Please don't tell anyone about this."

"I won't!" her friend declared stoutly.

"Pinky swear?"

"Pinky swear!" The two girls hooked their little fingers together and then…something happened.

Images of the past superimposed themselves over each other's faces. Hundreds of snapshots of time flashed across their minds as two best friends met again after 25,000 years.

After what seemed to be an eternity, they unhooked their fingers and sat back staring at each other. "Zoicite?" Cassie asked in a breathy whisper.

"Princess Athena?" Zoë whispered before breaking into tears. Cassie wrapped her arms around her friend in a hug and cried with her.

When the worst of the tears had passed, Zoë sat back and wiped her eyes. "Is all that I remember true? The Silver Millennium, and Prince Endymion, and that bitch Beryl, and everything?"

Cassie nodded solemnly. "Yes, it all happened. The Silver Millennium fell and Queen Serenity used her Silver Crystal to send us forward to this time."

"Yes," Zoë added shamefaced, "Then Beryl broke free and…and I betrayed my Prince again! Oh Cass, what kind of monster am I? I betrayed everything I believed in 25,000 years ago and then I did it again in this time! I killed poor Nephrite. Then I almost killed Endymion with a crystal in the back! I didn't even fight fairly!" The distraught girl broke into hysterical sobs.

Cassie grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her roughly. "It wasn't you! Beryl gained control of you. You were just a pawn in her cruel game!"

Zoë regained partial control of herself. "It doesn't matter. My Prince will never forgive me and I'll never forgive myself."

"Zoë, please…"

"He'll never forgive me! I broke the oath I made to serve and protect him eve unto death." Zoë stared down at the floor, her inner demons howling at the gates of her sanity. She longed to throw them open and surrender to the spiraling, black madness that waited.

Cassie stood up abruptly and held out her hand. Zoë stared up at her for a moment before taking the proffered hand and climbing unsteadily to her feet. 

"Come on!" Cassie commanded as she swung her backpack up onto her shoulder. Zoë followed her silently as she led the way up onto the roof.

"Where are we going?"

"To my house. We need to have a long heart to heart talk."

"And your house is on the roof of the library?" Cass grinned at the sarcasm. It was a good sign.

"Nope." Cassie made her way to the center of the flat roof. "Give me your bag." Zoë handed it over with a skeptical look. Cassie tossed it up and it disappeared. Zoe's chin dropped to the ground. Then Cass did the same with her backpack.

"Where? What? How?" Zoë stuttered.

"Oh I just put them in my sub-space pocket. Don't you just love those things?" Zoë just shook her head in disbelief.

"What are you going to do now? Pull a rabbit out of your hat?"

"Better than that." Cass grinned devilishly. She held out her transformation pen. Zoë looked totally confused. "If I am the Princess of Athena then I'm also…" Zoë just blinked. "I'll just have to show you." She held her pen above her head and shouted, "Athena Star Power!" In an instant, Sailor Athena was smiling at the dumbfounded girl.

"You're a Sailor Scout?"

"You always did have a fine grasp of the obvious. Now its your turn."

"My turn?" Zoë squeaked. She took a deep breath. "Well what do I do?"

"Good question."

"You don't know!" Zoë glared at the Sailor Scout.

"Well! Earth transformations are different. You don't have a trigger phrase. Don't you remember how?" Sailor Athena rubbed the back of her head. She hadn't expected this problem. Of course, she hadn't expected to find any of Endymion's Guardians, at least not among the living.

Zoë pushed back her frustration at the whole trying affair and concentrated on finding a way to transform. She reached down inside herself and tapped her long dormant power. In an explosion of rose petals, Zoicite, Guardian of the Royal Family of Earth, appeared. Zoicite stumbled and almost fell because she hadn't really expected it to work.

"Welcome back Zoicite!" The two young women smiled at each other.

"Well," the Guardian said, "Let's get going before someone sees us!"

"That's my girl! Always eager to go!" Sailor Athena sprinted to the edge of the roof and leapt to the next building. Zoicite followed at bit more slowly.

"What else could possibly happen today?" she whispered under her breath before leaping after the Scout.

*******************

They finally landed on Cassandra's balcony at the Whitmore house. Athena used her control of sound waves to vibrate open the lock on the French doors and stepped in.

"Come on in Zoicite," she called over her shoulder. Perseus had been asleep on the bed when the doors had opened. He raised his head and opened one sleepy eye to see who had come in. When he saw the ex-Negaverse general, he jumped up so fast that he fell off the bed in a heap.

Athena laughed. "So much for cats always landing on their feet!" She knelt down by the indignant gray lump of fur. "Are you all right Percy?"

"Oh just fine," he said sarcastically, "If you don't count broken necks and hallucinations."

Athena picked him up and set him on his feet on the bed. "I don't know about broken necks, but you're not hallucinating. Perseus meet Zoicite." She turned to the slack-jawed girl. "Zoicite, this is my Guardian Cat Perseus."

Zoicite looked beseechingly up at the ceiling. "Please God, no more freaky stuff today! Give me a day to get used to this insanity.

"It's a bit much, isn't it?" Athena said sympathetically as she sat down on the bed next to her stunned cat. Zoicite rolled her eyes at the understatement and sat down on the desk chair.

Percy shook himself as if to make sure he was actually awake. "Zoicite? I thought Pluto told us Zoicite was dead."

Athena shook her head and with a wry twist of her lips said, "No, Pluto said, and I quote, 'Beryl's Zoicite is dead.' This is Endymion's Zoicite, my best girl friend."

Percy lay back down like a miniature Sphinx. "Someone should teach Pluto how to speak plainly."

"I dare you to tell her that," Athena giggled. The cat glared at her.

"Yes, well," he herumphed, "I suggest the two of you power down before your mother comes up here."

"Good thinking, as always Fuzzball." Athena complied. "Zoicite, you had better turn back to plain ol' Zoë," she added when she noticed that Zoicite was still there.

"How." Zoicite said flatly.

"How?" Cassie blinked.

"Yes, how. You really need to get your hearing checked Cassandra," Zoicite growled, her temper beginning to fray after what had turned out to be a very long day already.

"Umm, just will yourself back to Zoë Wilton," Cassie suggested, trying to be soothing.

"Will myself?" Zoicite raised one eyebrow skeptically.

"Close your eyes and picture yourself in your civilian clothing," Percy added from the bed.

Zoicite closed her eyes, screwed up her face in concentration, and in another flurry of rose petals turned back into Zoë. She smiled unsteadily at Cassie and Percy. "This is going to take some getting used to."

"I know, believe me. I know," Cassie agreed whole-heartedly. They stared vacantly at each other for several minutes, before a knock on the door startled them out of their private worlds. 

"Cassandra, are you in there?" a woman's soft contralto called.

"Yes, Mama!" Cassie leapt to open the door. "What do you need?"

"I was just checking to see if you were in."

"Oh, um yes. I'm here. So is Zoë. Zoë Wilton, this is my mother Alexis Whitmore. Mama, this is my friend Zoë."

"It's nice to meet you Zoë," Mrs. Whitmore came into the room to shake the unfamiliar girl's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Whitmore." Zoë tried to smile pleasantly, but the strain of the past while showed on her face.

"Hey Mama! Can Zoë spend the night? It is Friday. No school tomorrow," Cassie asked eagerly.

Mrs. Whitmore looked back and forth between the two girls and saw the signs of tears on both of their faces. She often worried about her daughter, about her lack of friends, about her tendency to disappear. The one time that she had confronted her about it, Cassie had told her that she was quite capable of taking care of herself, thank you very much and left the room. Christopher, who had come in at the end of the unpleasant scene, had told her quietly, and with a maturity that was only rarely present in her Casanova-like son, to leave Cassie alone unless she wanted to loose her daughter permanently. Both of her children seemed at times to be so much older than they were. The cool, collected look that Cassandra put on like a mask hid a deeply lonely girl. "Of course she can stay Cassie. Zoë, just make yourself at home." 'And please be a good friend to my daughter. Maybe you can reach her where I can't.' Mrs. Whitmore smiled at them and left quietly. 

Cassie shut the door behind her mother and them moved to sit in the floor by the bed. She stretched out her legs and leaned back against the bed. Zoë lay down on her side in the floor and propped her head up on her bent arm. Cassie took a deep breath, "Now about that heart-to-heart…"

The two girls talked all of that afternoon and late into the night, stopping only for dinner and to get snacks. They discussed the bits and pieces that they remembered of the Silver Millennium. They rehashed their new lives. With much coaxing, Cassie was able to get Zoë to tell her what she knew of Zoicite's actions while under Beryl's control. It all seemed like a very long bad dream to her. She had known that something was not right that whole time, but she had no choice because the only memories she had were the twisted ones Beryl had put in her mind. It took both Percy and Cassie to convince the tortured girl that she wasn't responsible for what she did under the evil queen's control.

Late that night, Percy left to do his cat-ly rounds. Cassie and Zoë lay in the dark bedroom, finally silent after their long talk. Cassie was about to fall asleep when she half-heard Zoë say something. She rolled over and peered over the edge on her bed at the pallet on the floor.

"What did you say?"

"I said, we never finished our discussion of your date."

Cassie felt her cheeks heat. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. "Don't you think you've heard enough from me today?"

"Nope."  
Cassie sighed. "What do you want to know, nosy?"

"I want to know what happened to spook you so."

"Who says I'm spooked?"  
"Cass, I've known you for two lifetimes now. So spill it!"

Cassie closed her eyes. "I really don't know what happened. The Athena power was involved somehow, but it was more than that. It's like…like we're connected on some deep level. I've never felt anything like it."  
Zoë raised herself up onto her elbow. "You know what that sounds like?" Cassie grunted negatively. "It sounds like you and Andrew are soulmates."

"Soulmates?" Cassie rolled the word around her head. It did sound right.

"Yeah, you know, like Serenity and Endymion."

"I don't know. I suppose its possible, but what can I do about it? I have my duties as Sailor Athena. And there is that new mess stirring in the Negaverse. And…"

"And you're making excuses!" Zoë interrupted emphatically.

"And I'm making excuses," Cassie suppressed tears thickened her voice. "I'm terrified Zoë. What if this is some one sided thing?"

"If it was one sided, would he have proposed?"

"I suppose not."

"You suppose not! Of course he felt it too. You just have to wait and see what happens. Give it time, after all you have centuries."

"But he doesn't." Cassie whispered as her tears fell silently on her pillow.

Zoë had no reply to that one. The girls lay in silence for awhile.

"Cass?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think Malacite is alive somewhere?"

"I don't see why not. All of the Earth Guardians are probably around here somewhere."

"How do we go about finding him, them?" Zoë asked, her voice full of longing for her lover and her companions.

"I don't know. Silver Millennium survivors seem to pop up when the time is right. No doubt Pluto has a hand in that. Unfortunately getting information out of her is about as easy as finding a ruby in the sands of Mars." She paused trying to think through her growing sleepiness. "One thing we do have to do though is introduce you to Endymion and the Scouts."

"I can't face them!"

"Yes, you can!" Cassie's voice was suddenly implacable as the cool warrior part of her soul came to the fore. "We don't have the luxury to take this slowly. A new enemy is coming, if it's not already here. I know it is connected to the Negaverse and your first hand knowledge could prove invaluable. I feel in my bones that this battle is going to be even more brutal than the fall of the Silver Millennium."

Zoë felt the solider part of her respond to Cassie's tone. In that moment in a dark room, in the wee hours of the night, Zoë accepted who and what she was: she was Zoicite, warrior, guardian and retainer to a Prince, and this time she vowed silently, nothing, not even her own fears, would keep her from her duty. She was mildly surprised at how good it felt to again take up the responsibilities that she had once born. "You're right, Princess Cassandra. I will do whatever you think is necessary to serve my Prince and his Princess," she said formally. She continued in her normal tone, "Who are Endymion and Serenity and the Scouts anyway?"

"You don't remember? I thought you already knew who Endy was at least."

"That part of my, um, former activities is a blank."

Cassie grinned at the dark ceiling; "This is going to be fun."

"Cass! Tell me who they are!" Zoë demanded; a sudden feeling of impending doom loomed over her.

"Now, now. That wouldn't be fair. Besides, I can't wait to see your face when you find out."

"Cassie!" Cassie just giggled evilly and refused to answer. The girls finally drifted off to sleep as the sky turned rosy with dawn.

Next time on Sailor Moon: Serenity's Court

Cassie has found one of Endymion's Guardians, but will Darien or the others accept her? Find out in _Zoicite: Friend or Foe._

Back to the Table of Contents


	8. Zoicite: Friend or Foe?

Chapter 7: Zoicite, Friend or Foe

Cassie had been up for several hours that Saturday morning when Christopher came stumbling into the kitchen. She looked up from her newspaper when he hit the doorway, literally. His hair was sticking up in all directions. He was clad only in boxers and a tee shirt. He felt his way across the room with both hands stretched out like one of the living dead. "Coffeeee, coffeeeee…" he chanted. Cassie laid down her paper as he opened the cabinet and pulled out a jar. He scooped several spoonfuls of the contents into a mug and added hot water from the carafe. He gave it a quick stir and gulped half of the contents down. He immediately spat all over counter. Cassie laughed so hard that she fell out of her chair at the kitchen table.

"You poisoned the coffee!" the outraged boy accused.

"Look at the jar, Sherlock," his highly amused sister smirked.

"Eww gross! It's Tang! Why didn't you warn me?"

"Why should I?"

"Because you know I can't see straight in the morning!"

"For one thing, it's 11:00. For another, even you should be able to tell the difference between Tang and instant coffee."

"They're both powders!" he protested.

"It's ORANGE!"

The siblings glared at each other for a while before getting back to what they had been doing. Chris fixed his coffee after carefully making sure that it was actually coffee this time. Cass finished reading through the paper.

"Chris, I need you to do three things for me," Cassie said after a time.

"What?" he asked grudgingly; he never quite trusted her when she had that particular note in her voice.

"First, clean up this mess." She waved a hand at the orange liquid dripping from the counter into a small puddle on the floor.

Chris rolled his eyes and reached for the paper towels. "And second?"

"Next, please put on some pants. We do have company you know."

"Company?" Chris looked back at his sister in confusion. He had been gone since before Zoë and Cass had come in and they had already been locked away in her room when he came in.

"Zoë spent the night last night."

"And you think she wouldn't want to see my beautiful self in only my underwear?" Chris struck a flamenco pose. "All women admire my wonderful bod!"

"I've seen better," a dry voice called into the room. Chris didn't miss a beat.

"That I do not believe!" he put on an attitude of false hurt. "Tell me where to find these 'better bods' and I'll challenge them to a swimsuit contest!" Zoë dragged up a weak smile for the boy's antics.

Chris flashed a quick look at his sister. She gave him an almost imperceptible nod and tapped one long pink fingernail against the tabletop. After all the years that the siblings had spent in their dangerous game of information gathering, Chris followed the cue instinctively.

"Anyway, my lady, would you like a cup of coffee?" Chris bowed to the girl, turning his not insignificant charm on full blast.

Zoë smiled, flattered in spite of herself. "Yes please. Black and very strong." Chris bowed again, touching forehead, lips, and chest with his fingertips.

"Have a seat." Cass pushed a chair out from the table with her foot. The girl sat down and stared at the tabletop. Cassie examined the girl through her eyelashes as she folded up her paper with exaggerated care. Zoë looked rough. She had taken the time to put back on the clothes that she had worn the day before, but that was about all. Her eyes were blood-shot and red rimmed. Cass stifled a curse as she realized that Zoë had been crying again. She may have accepted intellectually that she wasn't responsible for Zoicite's misdeeds under Beryl's control, but it would take longer than a single night, however long, to convince her heart. Cass shrugged internally. 'Well the first step towards self forgiveness would begin today with the confrontation with the Scouts and Tuxie.' Cassie prayed that Zoe's demons would subside quickly. She grimaced behind the cover of the rustling paper. 'I hope that she has better luck with her demons than I've had with mine.'

Chris brought Zoe's coffee over and set it down in front of her. Zoë thanked him absently, her mind a million miles away. Cass caught her brother's eye and flicked the tips of her fingers toward the door. He took the hint and left quietly.

Cass finally put the paper down with an attention getting slap. "Okay, Miss Wilton. The first order of business is to plan how we are going to present you in the best light to Endymion and the Scouts."

Zoë set her coffee cup down to hide the trembling in her hands. "I don't know. What do you suggest? You're the diplomatic one. I'm just the arrogant solider-type, remember?"

Cassie was pleased to see the resolve in her friend's eyes. She could only imagine how difficult this was for her. "Well, speaking as the 'diplomatic one,' I think something nice, easy, and subtle would be best. Percy is out making sure everyone will be here at 2:00. I think that we should get some food into them, let them get to know Zoë Wilton a little better, and then spring the news on them when they're good and mellow." Cassie pinched the bridge of her nose. It was so difficult to think clearly when she was as tired as she was. She had gotten no sleep Thursday after her date with Andrew. Then last night, Friday night, she had gotten maybe three hours of sleep. She had never been able to function very well on little sleep. She resolutely pushed her fatigue to the back of her mind.

"That sounds a little vague Cass," Zoë objected.

"I know. The key will be not reacting to them until the proper time. Percy is supposed to just tell them that I want them to meet a friend. They'll be coming in civilian form, because they shouldn't expect that there would be any Scout business going on. Do you think you can handle it?" 

Zoë grinned crookedly. "No problem. I'll just put on my 'must be pleasant to idiot foreign dignitaries' face." She began smiling vapidly and pretended to shake someone's hand. "Of course Mr. Ambassador, I love embassy balls. Dance with your fifteen-year-old stuck up twit of a son even though I'm supposed to be working? I'd be delighted."

Cassie giggled and shook her head. "I hope that it won't be that…boring at least." The girls sat in silence for a moment, minds going over their up-coming roles.

Zoë scrubbed her face with both hands. "Seriously, how do you tell someone that you are a reincarnated warrior from a kingdom that turned to dust 25 millennia ago?"

Cass shrugged. "That's not something that I have much experience with. I spend most of my time avoiding those kinds of confessions. You can practice on Chris if that would help."

"Chris?! You want me to tell your brother! Wouldn't that make it difficult to keep your own identity from him?" Zoë asked incredulously.

"It would if he didn't already know," Cass deadpanned.

"Why do I get the feeling that you haven't told me everything?"

"I get that feeling quite often." Chris said as he came back into the kitchen, this time fully dressed. 

Cass cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at her friend. Zoë ran a nervous hand through her loose curls, wincing as her fingers caught on knots and tangles. "Chris, can you keep a secret?" she asked the boy.

He grinned and winked at his sister as he answered. "I guess I'm pretty good at it." Zoë turned to face him as he propped himself up on the counter. She closed her eyes for a moment and gathered her courage. She climbed to her feet and thrust a hand out at him.

"Hello, I am Zoicite, one of the four members of Prince Endymion's personal guard." Chris snapped to his feet, shifting automatically into a defensive stance before looking past the ex-Negaverse general at his sister. What he saw in her reassured him. He relaxed quickly and took the offered hand. 

"I thought that you were dead." He smiled at the girl while examining her carefully.

Zoë grinned; glad that he hadn't jumped her like she had thought he would at first. "Rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerate."  
"So I see." Chris began pumping her hand enthusastically. "Are you here to help keep my sister out of trouble? I can use all the help I can get!" 

"You need an entire army, not just me!"

"Please don't encourage him! He's bad enough as it is!" Cass pleaded from the table. 'Good job Chris, make her feel at ease.'

They all laughed as the tension in the room eased. 

"Hey sis, what is that third thing?" Chris asked after flirting for awhile longer with Zoë.

Cass looked puzzled for a minute before remembering the earlier conversation. "Oh yeah, I need you to make yourself scarce this afternoon."

"Why?" 

"Because I'm hosting an impromptu Scout meeting."

"When are you going to introduce me to the rest of the gang?" Chris looked mildly hurt.

"When Venus decides to let me."

"What does Venus have against me?" Chris looked really hurt now. He had put a lot of time, energy, and trouble into helping the Sailor Scouts. Not to mention the mortal danger that he had been in at times.

"It's not what she has against you, it's what she has for you." 

"Huh?"

Cass grinned wickedly at her now confused brother. Mina didn't want to tell him, because she was enjoying the attention Chris was giving her way too much to risk loosing it when he found out. Cassie didn't think that it would change anything between the pair, except maybe make them that much more at ease with each other, but she was willing to let the Love Scout make her own decision.

"Never mind. Will you go elsewhere, or do I have to mush you up?"

Chris leaned over to Zoë and said confidentially, "Never let your siblings get super power. They'll use it to get their way all the time." 

"Get on with you now!" Cassie shook a finger at her grinning brother.

"I'm off to find Mina then. At least she can't beat me up on whim." Chris waltzed out of the kitchen to find the golden-haired girl that had so thoroughly caught his attention.

"That's what he thinks," Cassie muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Zoë asked.

"Nothing. Let's go get straightened up," she shooed Zoë towards the door. "Frankly, my dear, you look like hell!"

"Oh thanks! I wonder why?" The two girls headed upstairs.

********************

Zoë examined herself in the mirror with some satisfaction. She put her green studs back into her ears and gave her cream blouse one last tug to pouf out the bottom. The blouse was a bit big, but then Cass had been more blessed the figure department than she had. All of Cass's slacks had been a bit too short for her, so she was wearing a tan skirt. She twirled to watch the full skirt bell out in the full-length mirror. She rarely dressed so femininily. Oh, she wore girl school uniforms; to do anything else would have freaked out her very conventional parents a bit too much. But, outside of school, she always wore things that hid her sex. She had never really understood the impulse to look like 'one of guys.' That same impulse had driven her to excel at anything that was concidered a typical boy thing. She played baseball, skateboarded with the best of them, rode dirt bikes, and had done anything to meet or beat any 'male' sport or event. Well, now she knew why. It was a hold over of her Silver Millennium personality. Zoicite had had to prove herself over and over again to get her place in Endymion's Guard. After she had won her place, she had gone out of her way to make the male dominated military of Earth more comfortable with her by down playing her gender. "Well," she said to her reflection, "this is a whole new world, a new time, and women's lib has finally come to Earth. No need to act like a guy so as not to 'rock the boat.' Watch out Negaverse! The new and improved Zoicite is here!" She gave her reflection a Sailor V-esque victory sign. 

"You had better watch doing that around Venus. She might sue you for copy right infringement," Cassie called as she walked out of the adjoining bathroom clad in a robe. She crossed to the bureau and picked up her brush.

"I take it Venus is possessive of her image?"

"That's putting it mildly." Cass began brushing her hair. Zoë watched in the mirror's reflection.

"What should I do with my hair?" She piled her curls on her head and examined it critically.

"I don't know Zoë. There's not much time left though before they should start arriving." Cass quickly twisted her own hair up into a bun and began sticking pins in it with ruthless disregard for rhyme or reason or her own scalp.

Zoë sighed as the nervousness she had been suppressing came flooding back. "Just toss me the brush will you." Cassie complied before pulling off her robe and slipping on a yellow sundress. Zoë pulled her hair back in her normal low ponytail with a loose lock before each ear. 

"Are you girls decent?" a voice called from the hallway.

"No Percy, but we are dressed!" Cass answered.

"Funny." Perseus pushed open the unlatched door. "It's almost two."

"Ready My Lady Guardian?" Cassie asked her friend.

Zoë squared her shoulders. "As ready as I can be Your Highness."

"Lead on Perseus." Cassie smiled encouragingly at the nervous girl. "Just think, it can't be as bad as facing Negaversian army." 

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Zoë put on her 'pleasant' mask. The cat led the two girls out the doors.

*********************

"It's two ten! Where can they be?" Zoë paced up and down the living room. Cassie sat serenely on the couch; Perseus curled up beside her.

"Relax Zoë! They'll be here." She glanced down at her cat and said very softly, "They had better be, or someone is in deep trouble."

"They'll be here milady." Percy opened one closed eye. "Remember, this is supposed to be a social engagement. They're just being fashionably late." He closed his eye again and continued his catnap.

"I'm going crazy!" Zoë made another turn around the room.

"That's it! Sit down Zoë, before you drive me up the wall!" Cassie snagged her friend as she came by and forced her to sit down. A second later, the doorbell rang and they both jumped to their feet.

"I'll get it. You just sit back down." Cassie composed her face back into calm welcome before heading to the door. Zoë sat and waited, her nervousness roiling in her stomach like a snake. 

After what seemed an eternity, Cassie came in with four girls. The blonde had a white cat draped over her shoulder. 'They're the Sailor Scouts?!' Zoë thought incredulously. She knew three of the four from the high school. Amy Mizuno, school genius, Lita Kino, the tallest girl in school and rumored to be a great fighter, and Mina Aino, the big Sailor V fan. The last girl was only vaguely familiar. Zoë had seen a few times with the others after school. 'Oh my! Amy must be Sailor Mercury. Lita is Sailor Jupiter. The unknown is a dead ringer for Mars. That means Mina is Sailor Venus! Poor Chris! His girlfriend can beat him up! Wait! If those girls are the Scouts, then Sailor Moon/Princess Serenity must be…Serena Tsukino?! It can't be! That girl is not the least bit princess-like! She's a walking representation of ditziness!'

"Girls, I'd like you to meet my dear friend Zoë Wilton. Zoë, you should know Amy, Lita, and Mina. This is Raye Hino. She goes to T*A Academy. The cat is Artemis." Zoë smiled at the raven-haired girl and filed away her name and the cat's. 

"I'm pleased to meet you, all of you." She hid her amazement and nervousness behind a wall of iron in her mind.

"Everyone take a seat and I'll go get the refreshments." Cassie walked into the kitchen with Percy following at her feet.

The silence was deafening as the girls stared at one another. Artemis climbed down into Mina's lap as they all sat down and proceeded to go directly to sleep. Finally Amy cleared her voice, "Zoë, you're a senior aren't you?"

"Yes I am…" 'Thank you Amy!' "You all are sophomores. How are you liking your classes?"

"They're a real bummer!" Mina said, eager to start some kind of conversation. "Especially English!" 

"You have to read Huckleberry Finn, don't you?" Zoë asked. The younger girls nodded. "I really hated that book. At least I got an A on the paper."

Mina's eyes lit up. "You did?! Can you give us some pointers?" She leaned forward eagerly.

"Yeah," Lita answered, "I really don't get all that symbolism with the river and all."

"Well…" Zoë began.

"Mina! Lita! You shouldn't ask her for help! You haven't even read…" Amy protested. 

Mina quickly slapped her hand over the blue-haired girl's mouth. "Of course we have! Go on Zoë!"

Zoë laughed and began explaining the significance of the river.

***************

When Cassie came back with a tray loaded with snack food, the conversation was in full swing. Even Amy had relented enough to argue interpretations with Zoë. Mina and Lita were scribbling down notes as quickly as their hands would go. Only Raye was sitting back studying Zoë through slit violet eyes. Cassie's own eyes narrowed. She should have known that Raye would suspect something. The emotional atmosphere would set off her psychic senses no matter how deeply Zoë and Cass buried their reactions. She glanced down at the cat at her feet. "Percy," she whispered under her breath, "Distract Raye." The cat nodded once and bounded across the room into Raye's lap. The startled girl looked down at him in amazement as he rolled onto his back and began batting the cord to her hooded sleeveless jacket. After a second she gave into the cuteness factor and played with him. Cassie smiled wryly at the scene. 

She walked over to the coffee table and set down the tray. "Dig in everyone!" She sat down with a sigh in a Queen Anne chair. The living room's understated elegance went well with her plans. She only hoped that she would be able to keep her jagged nerves under control. Exhaustion pushed at her resolve, but she was determined to carry off this very important first meeting, not only for Zoe's sake, but because she sensed a looming crisis. She knew on a bone-deep instinctive level that every ally would be needed soon. She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again, Raye was staring directly into them from across the coffee table. The concern she saw in those violet eyes warmed her. She had rarely had the luxury of supportive friends in her endeavors. She rose to her feet and headed back to the kitchen to get more food to replace the rapidly disappearing pile. Amy, Lita, Mina, and Zoë were deep in their conversation and didn't notice her leave. Raye followed her after dumping Percy into her chair.

"What is going on Cassie?" the priestess asked when the kitchen door swung shut behind her.

Cassie didn't even turn from the sandwiches she was making. "It's a long story Raye. And one that I would rather only go over one time, once Serena and Darien get here."

"Does it involve Zoë?"

"It involves all of us," she placed both hands flat down on the counter and leaned heavily on it. "I hope that you all will be patient enough to hear me out before doing anything rash. I don't think any of you are going to take my news well at first."

"Can't it wait? You're stretched so thin that I'm surprised that you're on your feet." Raye moved over to the older girl. Cassie looked over at her.

"No, it can't. Can't you sense the urgency in the air?" The girl's gray eyes were so dark that they looked black.

Raye stretched out her psychic senses and caught a sudden glimpse of the danger that Cassie feared. The priestess grabbed the other girl's shoulder as she reeled from an invisible blow. She shivered as barely heard wild, mad laughter echoed in her mind's ear. "What was that?" she whispered.

"I'm not sure. But we are going to need all of the help we can find to face it. Including Zoë and any others we can dig up."

"Who IS Zoë?" Raye asked, her fingers unconsciously digging into Cassie shoulder. 

"I'll explain later. Please trust me Raye." Cassie said quietly.

Raye nodded slowly. They stared at each other for a moment. "Cassie, are you psychic too?"

Cassie smiled sadly, "No. I am the Scout of the Planet of Memory and Music. I can sense only echoes of the past, not the present or future like you can."

Raye frowned in puzzlement. "If you can only sense the past, how can you know about this new menace?"

"The only thing that I can think of is that it's not a new menace. In fact, it feels absolutely ancient." Cassie picked up the tray of finished finger sandwiches. "Could you grab that bowl of chips?" Raye nodded and followed the older girl back into the living room, lost in thought.

They set their burdens down on the coffee table. Raye picked Percy back up and sat down again in her chair. 

"Hey Cassie? What about something to drink?" Mina asked. Just then the doorbell rang again.

"Get the door Cass, I'll get the drinks," Zoë said as she climbed to her feet.

When the two girls were out of the room, Mina leaned forward to look around Lita at Raye. "Raye! What's up with you? You haven't said two words."

"It's nothing," Raye said. Mina looked skeptical, but didn't press her friend. 

"What do you think of Zoë?" Lita asked the others.

"I like her. She seems like an old friend already." Amy said quietly.

"Yeah, she's a lot cooler than she seems at school," Mina added.

Lita nodded in agreement. "That's what I think too. I wonder why she's such an outsider at school. She's a lot of fun."  
Loud laughter floated into the room. "There's Serena the Hyena. I guess we can get down to business now." Raye said, taking refuge as always in sarcasm.

"Business?" Amy asked, "I thought that we were here for social visit." The blue-haired genius's mind began racing over the possibilities of types of business Raye could be talking about.

Cassie came into the room followed by Darien and Serena. Luna leapt down out of the meatball-headed girl's arms and walked over to where Artemis had stretched out in a patch of afternoon sun in the floor. 

"Hey Serena! Why don't you and Darien sit on the love seat?" Mina suggested with a mocking leer. Darien blushed slightly at the innuendo in the girl's voice.

"Great idea Mina!" Serena began dragging her boyfriend in that direction when Zoë came through the kitchen door with a tray loaded with cups of soda. She caught sight of the man who had been her liege lord and dropped the tray from suddenly nerveless hands. The crash drew all eyes to her.

"Oh! Are you all right Zoë?" Serena began moving toward the pale girl before anyone else could react. She stopped as a rock hard hand grabbed her arm and drug her back. "Darien!"

"What is she doing here?" the dark-haired boy demanded. He had instantly recognized her as Zoicite. "In fact, what is she doing alive?"

"She is here because she is my guest," Cassie answered calmly, but her tone warned him to back off. "Never mind the mess. I'll clean it up." She brushed past the man who had once been her cousin on her way to the distraught girl in the kitchen doorway.

Darien ignored the warning. "Do you know who that, that witch is?"

Cassie stopped and turned to face him. "She is my friend Zoë Wilton." Her gray eyes were cold with suppressed anger.

"Darien, what is going on?" Serena asked as he dragged her behind him.

"She is also the monster that almost killed me! She is Zoicite!" With that statement, the rest of the girls surged to their feet with transformation pens in hand. 

"Darien…" Cassie growled and took a threatening step toward the young man. Lita started after Cassandra, but Raye grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Cass. Don't." Zoe's trembling voice stopped her friend in her tracks. The former Negaverse general stumbled over to kneel at Darien and Serena's feet. Her voice was low but steady when she bowed her head to him. "I am Zoicite." She looked up at the young man with tears in her eyes. "I am sworn to serve you. Do with me as you will, my liege."

"Oh Darien," Serena breathed. She was unsure what it meant to have one of her worst enemies kneeling to her, but in spite of her loathing of Zoicite, her heart went out to the girl at her feet.

"Don't listen Serena! It's a trick!" Darien snapped. His memories of the treacherous Negaverse general taunting him were far to clear for him to trust this girl. 

"That is enough, Mr. Chiba! How dare you insult a guest in my house!" Cassie's control over her glacially cold anger was slipping as Darien's rejection of Zoë caused her friend to begin to cry.

"How dare I? How dare you bring this snake near Serena or me!" The epitaph caused Zoë to crumble. Raye sensed the girl's fragile hold on her sanity begin to slip as Zoë again cursed herself for succumbing to Beryl's control and thus betraying her prince. The priestess dared the Darien's hard eyes to go kneel by the girl and hold her as she cried. The other Scouts looked back and forth between Zoë and the royal couple in confusion, uncertain how to react.

"Now you have gone too far. You always were arrogant and close minded my lord prince, but this is more than I can tolerate." All eyes snapped to Cassandra. The chill in her voice could have frozen the sun. "If you cannot see on your own that Zoicite is a faithful warrior, your faithful warrior, then I will simply have to force you to see." Silver power began to flow over her like living flames. Her sundress shifted into a floor length silver gown, with a wide scoop neckline, long bell-like sleeves, and a dropped waist. The sleeves were lined with burgundy as was silver ribbon that tied her hair back and draped down to brush her bare shoulders. The fitted bodice was the same deep burgundy.

"Cassandra, I…" Perseus began before his charge's frozen eyes turned to him. "I'll be quiet now," he said cowering down to the ground, with ears laid back and tail tucked.

Cassandra turned back to the young man who would one day be her king, if everything worked out as Pluto had planned. "You have wished to know something of your past, then so be it." The silver aura around her turned slowly to burgundy, as did the girl's gray eyes.

"Cassie, what are you doing?" Serena asked, frightened by the raw power that whipped through the room like a living wind.

Cassie simply intoned, "I call on the power of Athena, upon the power of Memory. Show all these now here the past as it truly was. Athena Memory Vortex!" Burgundy power raced out from her and engulfed everyone in the room.

***********************

Raye looked around amazed. She was in a huge spring garden, but she wasn't really there. Everything seemed frozen in time. She could still dimly feel Zoë in her arms, so she reasoned that she hadn't really left Cassie's living room. She sensed the presence of the others, including the three cats. Therefore, she was only mildly surprised when she heard Cassie begin to talk.

"You are now passive observers of echoes of the past. We are not really here and can only watch what unfolds."

"This is wicked cool!" Mina disembodied voice said.

"Yeah, this is better than that virtual reality game Darien and I went to!" Serena squealed.

"Cassie! What do you think you're doing?!" Perseus demanded.

"I didn't feel like arguing with Darien about Zoë. Besides I promised to tell everyone as much as I could about the past, so I'm just killing two birds with one stone." Cassie answered her voice no longer as cold, but still brooking no argument.

"I don't see how showing me the past could change my mind about Zoicite!" Darien snapped the name out like a curse.

"Shut up and watch Darien!" Raye snapped back, her own temper beginning to fray under the barrage of barely controlled emotions.

"Enough!" Serena commanded, "I want to see, no matter what the purpose is. Go on Cassie."

"Thank you, Your Highness. This is the Royal Gardens of the Earth Palace. It is a few days after Endymion's thirteenth birthday. It is traditional that on a Prince of Earth's thirteenth birthday that his personal guards be chosen from all of the young warriors on the planet in a great contest. These guards are to become the core of his own court when he comes to his majority and inherits his political power from his father. They will be his closest confidants and in most cases a prince and his personal guard become as close as brothers do, for they grow up together. Unfortunately, Endymion always liked to resist tradition when ever possible. He didn't like the idea of having people not of his own choosing following him around, and he didn't bother to hide his opinion from his Guard. This particular incident is my own first meeting with my dear cousin's new guardians. Let the story begin." Cassie unfroze the image.

The view zoomed in on a section of the sprawling garden by a small lake. A thirteen-year-old Endymion sat on the ground in formal tunic and hose tearing up leaves and tossing the pieces into the water. A younger child stood at rigid attention behind him, clad in a gray uniform with green trim. Every once and a while the prince would disgustedly look over his shoulder at the child before reeking more destruction on the foliage.

A commotion in the bushes attracted the child's attention and she turned her face into sight for the first time.

"That's Zoicite!" Amy exclaimed.

"Yes," Cassie agreed, "Just watch."

The commotion drew closer and the young Zoicite drew her dagger and placed herself between it and her prince. Endymion rolled his eyes and stood up. "Zoicite, we are in the middle of the Gardens. I don't think there would be any enemies here. It is probably just some gardeners or something."

"As you say, Your Highness," the girl replied, but didn't let down her dagger.

A disheveled white haired boy of about Endymion's age struggled out of the bushes, his uniform torn and dirtied. He was followed closely by two other boys, one with short blonde hair and one with long chestnut hair, carrying a struggling bundle. The first boy came to attention in front of the prince.

"My Lord Prince! We have captured a spy!" said young Malachite.

"Yeah, a real dangerous one!" said Nephrite as the bundle bucked again.

"You're telling me," muttered Jadeite. He was sporting the beginnings of a black eye.

Endymion looked interested for the first time. "Well let's look at this spy."

"Yes My Lord!" The bundle had gone quiet at the sound of Endymion's voice. The three boys quickly unwrapped the blanket from the bundle to reveal a gagged and bound young girl dressed in an old tunic and a ratty pair of hose. She looked furious under the mess of brown hair almost hiding her face.

Endymion stared for a moment and then grinned wickedly. "Good job men!" He stood up and began pacing regally back and forth. "This is most certainly a dangerous spy." The girl was shooting daggers at him with her eyes. She began struggling again. Nephrite and Jadeite exchanged weary glances and moved to hold her still.

"Malachite, what do you suggest that we do with this spy?" Malachite's chest swelled with pride.

"Well milord…"

"My Lord," Zoicite interrupted, "I don't think this girl is a spy."

"How do you know? You're just a girl!" Malachite sneered.

"You must be mistaken Zoicite. This a very dangerous individual." Endymion shushed the girl.

"But My Lord…"

"Quiet! I know best! After all I am a Prince!" The 'spy' rolled her eyes and lunged at him again, this time managing to drag both Jadeite and Nephrite forward a few feet.

"She's a feisty one! Maybe we should start with torture first, before we question her," Endymion smirked at his captive.

"Torture?" Nephrite looked wide eyed at his prince.

"Yes, torture. Nephrite, Jadeite, Malachite, go dunk her in the lake." The three boys exchanged glances and moved to obey. The bound girl began bucking and fighting again.

"My Lord!" Zoicite protested again, "You can't do this!"

"No he can't!" a new voice declared.

"Your Majesty!" Zoicite went to one knee. The three boys dropped the bound girl like a hot potato and did the same. The girl hit the ground with an oof heard even through her gag.

Endymion tensed and turned to face the voice. "Hello Mother, Father."

"What do you think you are doing Endymion?" the king asked.

"It's just a little joke," Endymion hung his head and stubbed his toe in the grass. He didn't look very princely right then.

"A joke? Perhaps you would like to explain this joke my sister?" The queen stared disapprovingly down at her son. 'He's almost as tall as I am now' she thought.

"Not really mother. Queen Daphne has quite a temper. Zoicite untie the prisoner."

Zoicite complied. She cut the ropes and the gag and helped the girl to her feet. The girl shoved her hair back revealing a pair of gray eyes; very very peeved gray eyes.

"Hello Uncle Endymion, Aunt Andromeda," she said. The three male guardians looked at each other and said "Uh-oh."

"We are so dead," Jadeite whispered. The other two nodded in agreement.

"Cassandra are you all right?" asked the queen as the girl came up to her.

"I'm fine, but I'd be better if you would turn your back for a minute." Cassie eyed her cousin measuringly. Endymion began backing up.

"Of course dear." The king and his queen turned around. "Malachite, Jadeite, Nephrite, and Zoicite please come stand by us." The Prince's Guard obeyed as quickly as humanly possible. They all purposely didn't watch as Endymion was thrown headfirst into the lake by his younger cousin.

"Are you done Cassandra?" the queen finally asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty. For now at least."

"I don't believe you've been introduced to Endymion's Guard yet."

"No, I haven't, Uncle Endymion." 

"This is Malachite, Nephrite, Jadeite, and Zoicite. Guardians, this is Princess Cassandra of Athena." The three boys exchanged guilty glances as they realized that they had not only manhandled royalty, but that this particular royalty was the Crown Princess of an allied nation. 

Malachite took a deep breath and stepped forward. "We are sorry, Your Highness."

"Oh that's all right. You were just doing your job." Cassandra grinned. "You had better go fish your prince out before his brain shrinks any more." The three boys rushed off to do that. Zoicite started to follow. "Wait moment Zoicite."

"You seem to have everything in hand, Cassandra. We will continue our walk now." Cassandra curtsied to the king and queen as they walked on, followed by the elder Endymion's personal guard. One of the guardsmen stopped by Zoicite and put a hand on her shoulder. "You did well, youngster. Part of the duties of a Royal Guard is to keep your charge from making an ass of himself or at least try to prevent it. Just remember that sometimes you just can't save him from himself." The man nodded to the princess and followed after his own charges.

Cassandra looked the girl up and down. Zoicite stiffened under her appraisal. "So you're the girl who dared to win a spot on Endymion's Guard."

"Yes, Highness."

"Oh relax!" the princess grinned at Zoicite. "I approve! The stiff-necked jerks around here need to be shown that girls can be warriors too. You'd think after being part of the Silver Millennium Alliance for almost fifty years now would convince them that women are just as capable as they are." Zoicite blinked in surprise.

"You think that girls can fight too?"

"Of course! Does it look like I'm practicing to be a perfect little lady?" Cassandra gestured at her ragged boy's clothing. "You can't do anything fun in dresses. Hey how old are you?"

"Eleven."

"Me too!" The two girls grinned at each other, instant friends. "Let's go show the newest mess of male warriors what we can do!" They ran off after the boys.

The scene froze again. "Zoicite and I were friends from that moment on. I spent as much time as possible on Earth between my duties as both a princess and as a Sailor Scout, playing with my cousin and his guards. Endymion finally gave into tradition and grew very close to his guard, all four of them. In fact, he and Jadeite spent most of their time thinking up horrendous practical jokes to play on everyone and their brother. The rest of us spent most of our time keeping the two of them out of trouble." Cassie trailed off in contemplative silence.

"So Endymion's Guard are to me sort of like the Scouts are to Serena," Darien said softly.

"Yes. You recognized Zoë as Zoicite because she is bound to you by ancient oaths." Cassie's voice still contained a hint of cold fury.

"Can you show us anything else?" Serena asked softly.

"If you wish Highness. But first I must tell you that I can only show you events that I remember, so the visions will only be bits and pieces of the Silver Millennium, and only things that I was personally involved in."

"Anything is better than nothing," Amy said. 

"Yeah!"

"Please Cassie!"

"Alright. This happened a few years later." Cassie sounded resigned, but she was secretly pleased to be able to use her powers to enlighten rather than to destroy. 

Next time on Sailor Moon: Serenity's Court

The Scouts are eager to learn more about their lives during the Silver Millennium, but will they like what they discover? Find out in: Visions of the Past.

Back to Table of Contents


	9. Visions of the Past

Chapter Eight: Visions of the Past

The scene shifted to another part of the huge Royal Gardens of Earth. The colored leaves of autumn were falling on three girls sitting under a huge oak tree. The three looked to be in their mid-teens.

"Hey!" Mina shouted, "That's me!"

"That is the Princess Mina of Venus, Princess Cassandra of Athena, and Guardian Zoicite of Earth," Percy confirmed.

"Let's hear what I'm saying! This is so cool!" Mina yelled out, even louder than before.

"Tone it down Mina!" Artemis shouted.

Cassie unfroze the scene out of a need to save her hearing.

"I can't believe that Endymion acted like such a jackass last night!" Princess Mina was saying as she smoothed out a wrinkle in her orange skirt.

"You don't know him like we do, huh Zoy?" Princess Cassandra responded dryly. Her gray skirts rustled softly as she turned to her long time friend.

"That is too true," Zoicite leaned back against the tree, totally unconcerned with keeping her green trimmed gray uniform clean. "But he was even a bigger jerk than usual. I can't believe that he called Princess Serenity Meatball-head."

"That was a bit much, even for Endy," Cassandra agreed.

"Well, Serenity did respond by calling him an 'uncultured slug.'" Princess Mina said.

"The two of them are usually better behaved than that. Well, at least they are at public functions." Cassandra gave up trying to preserve her dress and lay down on the grass.

"I wonder…" Mina drawled.

"You wonder what, Mina?" asked Zoicite.

"I wonder if there is something between those two."

"You what?!" the other two girls sat up and stared at the orange clad princess.

"There might not be anything now, but there is a definite possibility." Mina continued dreamily.

"Possibility for what?" Zoicite demanded.

"That would be great!" Cassandra's eyes began to gleam as she caught Mina's drift.

"Would someone please explain what you are talking to so that a lowly solider can understand?" Zoicite asked sarcastically.

"I think those two are definitely couple material!" Mina declared authoritatively.

"Those two! They can't even talk to each other without getting into a fight. At the rate they are going, they'll bring down the Silver Millennium all by themselves!" Zoicite looked back and forth between the princesses with a horrified look on her face.

"That's even more reason for the two of them to get together!" Cassandra said.

"I shouldn't be listening to this! I'm supposed to protect the Prince!"

"Come on Zoicite! You will be protecting him. Wouldn't it be better for Endy to fall for the Princess of the Moon than for that grasping upstart Beryl?" Mina smiled sweetly.

Cassandra leaned over to her best friend, "Besides, don't you owe him for setting you up with Lord Calamite the Toadly?"

"You're right of course. I must protect the Prince from Beryl!"

Princess Mina jumped to her feet, thrust one fist into the air and shouted, "Come on girls! Romance is in the air! This looks like a job for the Goddess of Love!"  
Cassandra jumped up and assumed a similar pose, "And the Goddess of Wisdom!"

Zoicite sighed and followed suit, "And the Lady Guardian of Endymion!"

Jadeite and Nephrite had been riding near by when they heard the three girls yell out. They exchanged knowing looks. "Ride, Neph. Ride like the wind!" They galloped off as hard as they could, unwilling to get involved in what ever those three were planning.

The scene froze again. 

"We set Endymion and Serenity up?" Zoë asked, her amazement evident in her voice.

"Well, they probably would have gotten together anyway; they are soulmates after all. But, we did give them a little push," Cassie agreed. "Let's go further forward, shall we?"

***************************

The scene shifted to just outside a huge grove of rose trees. Jadeite was talking to a familiar-looking pair of men. One was dressed in gray surcoat and the other in an orange surcoat, over light armor. Their horses were standing nearby with a third man in blue. They all appeared to be in their early twenties. The scene unfroze.

"So Jed," the gray clad knight asked, "Have you seen our ladies anywhere?"

"No, but…" Jadeite trailed off as Malachite and Nephrite came out of the maze, each carrying a girl over his shoulder. Zoicite trailed behind the two men.

"Have you misplaced something, good sirs?" asked Malachite. He and Nephrite unceremoniously dumped their burdens on the ground. It was Princess Cassandra and Princess Mina; each clad in dark colored hose and tunics.

"Cassandra! Mina! What were you doing in there?" the blue clad knight asked, aghast.

Mina rubbed her bruised back side. "You didn't have to drop us so hard!" She glared at Nephrite. The orange clad knight pulled her to her feet. 

"We were just waiting for Endy to get the lead out and finally ask Sere to marry him." Cassandra said, unrepentant.

"It's not very nice to spy Cass. Would you have liked it if someone was watching when I proposed?" the gray knight looked disapprovingly down as the girl still sitting on the ground. She held out her hands and he hauled her to her feet and into his arms. 

"Frankly Lover, I didn't care. The whole Silver Army could have been watching and I doubt that I would have noticed." Cassandra gave her knight a brief kiss. 

"You might not of cared but I certainly would have!"

"Chicken?" the girl cocked one eyebrow at him.

"No, I just wouldn't want to have corrupted all of those young minds when they saw what we did afterwards," he leered suggestively at Cassandra. She punched him lightly in the chest.

"Fresh!" "Would you like a demonstration of how 'fresh' I am?"

"Oh stop it you two, before you melt Ice Boy over there!" Jadeite broken, pointing toward the blue knight.

"That's Sir Ice Boy to you!" the blue knight grinned back.

Two more knights galloped up, one in red and one in green. "You guys seen Raye or Lita anywhere?" the red knight asked as he slid to a halt.

The four Guardians looked at one another. 

"Princesses Lita and Raye are missing too?" Malachite asked. The two new knights nodded.

"So is Amy," added the blue knight.

"Oh no!" Zoicite said. The four Royal Guards started back into the grove when the sound of a breaking bough was heard. A loud thud and an even louder scream followed it soon after.

"RAYE!!!"

Three dark-clad girls ran out of the grove at full speed, followed by a foaming Princess Serenity waving a broken limb like a sword. "When I get my hands on you, you'll regret the day you were born!" None of them even slowed down as they passed the group of knights.

Endymion came out of the grove much slower than the females had. He looked at his Guard in disgust. "Some guardians you are!"

"Hey, we caught two of them!" Jadeite protested. 

Zoicite whispered in Malachite's ear, "We? I don't recall him catching anyone." Malachite just shrugged before putting an arm around her. She leaned her head onto his shoulder.

"You caught two?" Endymion looked around and noticed how Cassandra and Mina were dressed. "Cassie?!"

"Oh, um hi Endy!" Cassandra began backing up from her cousin. She grabbed Mina's arm and pulled her toward the horses. The guilty girls turned and vaulted up on their knights' horses. "See you later Endy!" They spurred their mounts into a dead run away from the enraged Prince.

"Should we go after them Endymion?" asked the blue clad knight.

"Never mind Ice Boy." 

"Why does everyone call me that? Am I just made to suffer?" Ice Boy asked the clouds above him. 

Endymion just shook his head. 

"Well?" asked Jadeite.

"Well what?" Endymion looked at his guardsman.

"He means: Did you ask her and what did she say?" interpreted Nephrite.

"Oh." Endymion turned brick red. "She said yes, just before those three fell out of the tree." In the distance Serenity could be seen still chasing her friends with a large stick in hand.

"Congratulations!" the gray knight cheered.

"Yeah, welcome to the club!" the orange knight added.

"Now we just need to set up Jadeite here with someone and we can all be happily hitched together," Malachite said as he gave the blonde-haired Guardian a hit on the shoulder.

"Not me! I'm too happy being single and fancy free!"

"That's what Nephrite said before Mina set him up with Sere's major-domo," Zoicite smirked, "Maybe she can do the same for you. Would you like me to ask her?"  
"Don't you dare!" Jadeite was horror-stricken. "All I need is the Goddess of Love on my case!" Everyone laughed at him.

Yet again the scene froze.

"We all looked so happy," Lita said quietly.

"You were," Percy said equally softly.

"What did Jadeite mean by that?!" Mina demanded. 

The following silence was deafening.

"Who were those guys? The ones wearing ours colors?" Amy asked, subdued.

"I don't know," the stark grief in Cassie's voice sent shivers of sympathetic pain down everyone else's spine. "I can't even remember his name, any of their names."

For an endless moment brooding silence hung over them all.

Serena cleared her voice. "You said that we all knew Beryl. What happened that she was able to do what she did?"

"Beryl lusted after Endymion. She had for years, but no one took her seriously. She was quite a bit older than we were. She didn't take the announcement of Endymion and Serenity's engagement well. She burst into the Royal Audience Chamber at the Earth Palace and screamed threats at the king and queen. She was locked into a tower as punishment, but she managed to escape. It was common knowledge that she had fled back to her home pocket-kingdom in the northern regions of Earth. Nobody thought anything much about her during the year between the announcement and Princess Serenity's twenty-first birthday. Then just before the celebration at which Serenity was to receive her mother's blessing and official permission to marry Endymion, the barriers dividing the Negaverse from this universe began to fail and the attacks began.

***********************

The scene shifted to a council room in the Moon Kingdom Palace. Queen Serenity was sitting on her throne on a dais. Princess Serenity was seated on a smaller throne on a lower step. A young auburn-haired woman stood at her shoulder, clutching a staff of office in white-knuckled hands. Luna and Artemis lay on the lowest step of the dais. In a great circle, there were chairs for each of the Planets of the Silver Millennium Alliance. The Inner Guard was already seated, talking quietly among themselves. Behind each of the princesses, a knight stood at attention, the same knights as in the previous vision. The gray knight stood by the seat bearing the symbol of Athena, nervously running his hand back and forth over the arm of the chair. Perseus lay at the foot of the chair. The places for the Outer Guard were empty, for their owners were presently on their own planets and could not reach the Moon in time for the council session.

The doors to the chamber swung open and the chamberlain announced, "Princess Cassandra of Athena and Prince Endymion of Earth." The cousins approached the throne and bowed respectfully. The Queen nodded in return and Princess Serenity gave her fiancee a ghost of a smile.

"Do you bring us news?" the queen asked. 

"Well, Your Majesty…" Endymion began, while rubbing a hand through his disheveled black hair.

"May I answer Your Majesty? Endymion has been up for almost sixty hours now and as you can see, he isn't his normal chipper self," Princess Cassandra interrupted quietly.

"Of course, Cassandra. Endymion please take a seat before you collapse," the Queen ordered. Endymion gratefully sank into the Earth chair, the one nearest to Princess Serenity.

Cassandra moved toward the section of seats reserved for the absent Outer Guard so that none of the assembled people would be behind her. She bowed her head for a moment and clasped her hands in the silver fabric of her formal gown. She took her deep breath and swept her eyes across room. The look in those clear, gray eyes sent every heart plummeting.

"Your Majesty, Princess Serenity, My Lords and Ladies, I have received the latest news from the Athenian Information Bureau." She paused and took another deep breath. "It's not good. The attack on Earth was from the Negaverse. The enemy is led by an entity called the Negaforce."

The room exploded into a furor. The denials rebounded around the chamber in a maelstrom. Cassandra just stood patiently. The young woman beside Princess Serenity pounded her staff against the floor until a semblance of order returned.

Princess Amy stood up with a nod to the Queen. "The Negaforce is just a legend. Even if it was real, it can not exist in this universe."

Cassandra shook her head. "I wish that was true Amy. The Negaforce is all too real, and unfortunately there is a way for it to exist on this plane: it needs an avatar, a willing avatar."

"Who would be stupid enough to allow themselves to be possessed by an evil entity from another dimension?" Princess Raye of Mars asked.

Cassandra smiled wanly. "One who is insane enough to simply not care."

"Do you know who it is?" asked the red-clad knight, his brown eyes narrowing as plans of action flitted through his mind.

"Yes." The sorrow and self-recrimination in her voice was almost unbearable. "A threat that was thought to be so minimal that she wasn't even watched closely, even after she declared that she would have Endymion or no one would: the Princess of the Northern Kingdom of Earth, who now styles herself Queen of the Dark Kingdom." 

"Beryl…" Princess Serenity breathed. A dead silence filled the chamber for several heartbeats as the occupants tried to come to terms with the shock.

"But," a tiny voice broke the silence, "Endymion's Guard went to the Northern Kingdom to aid Beryl…" The white faced girl leaned on her staff of office. "Nephrite…?" 

Cassandra lowered her head for a moment and when she raised it again, tears were streaming down her face. "We can't find any sign of the Guard. I… They're gone."

The sound of the staff hitting the marble floor was deafening in the silence. Princess Serenity gathered the sobbing girl into her arms. Endymion rose from his seat and walked over to his love to offer his support. The rest of those gathered shoved grief to the backs of their minds in order to face the dilemma ahead.

Queen Serenity, her face set like stone, looked again at the silver clad Princess standing in the middle of the Council Chamber. "Cassandra, do the Great Archives on Athena contain anything that might help us?"

"Yes, Majesty. My mother has ordered that all scholars begin researching the Negaforce, but she sends warning that there might not be time. She respectively recommends that…" Cassandra trailed off, her face suddenly slack with shock. Every head in the room snapped toward her.

"Cassie!" cried the Athenian knight as he hurled himself toward his princess, but it was too late. With an ear-shattering scream, silver and burgundy power engulfed her in a raging inferno. Eyes had to be hidden from the blinding light as the Princess of the Planet of Memory and Music howled like a demon amidst planetary power gone mad. The knight hit her at a dead run, knocking her out of the silver fire, which sputtered and died once contact with Cassandra was broken. He held her as every muscle in her body contracted so tightly in a rictus that he was afraid that it would break her back. 

Princess Mercury ran towards her stricken friend and slid across the last few feet to them on her knees, her computer already out. "Someone go get the healers! She'll die in a few minutes if we can't stop the contractions."

"On it!" Artemis yelled over his shoulder as he and Luna raced for help. Perseus stayed by his charge with an expression of helpless terror on his face.

As suddenly as it had begun, it was over. Cassandra went completely limp in her knight's arms. He held his breath as he checked for a pulse. "She's still alive," he gasped. "What happened?" He looked up at the rest of the courtiers huddled around them.

"Great God in heaven…" Amy whispered.

"What is it Mercury?" demanded Queen Serenity as she came down from her throne. 

The blue haired girl just stared at her computer screen, unable to meet the eyes of her Queen. "Athena has been destroyed. There is nothing left of the planet but a bunch of rocks."

*******

The image faded away and the reborn members of the Silver Alliance began to breath again. 

"That was the beginning of the end." Cassie said softly. "With the destruction of Athena, the solar system was cut in half. The outer lying planets' people could not get to the Moon because of the lingering backlash from the explosion. The ripples in Time and Space trapped Sailor Pluto at the Gates of Time. And all of the scholars, with the knowledge and the resources to come up with an effective counter for the negative power Beryl was wielding were dead. 

On top of that, Beryl had not killed Endymion's Guard as we assumed; she had done much, much worse. She infused them with massive amounts of nega-energy, turning them into her Generals. Generals with intimate knowledge of the defenses of both the Earth and the Moon Kingdom. She used that knowledge with great… zest.

The details of the preliminary defense are very fuzzy to me. All I really know is that a group of volunteers was sent to Earth in an attempt to slow Beryl in hopes that someone could come up with a way to defeat her. I was comatose for most of that time.

I don't remember much until the day of the final battle on the Moon. The Earth had already fallen. Only Endymion had made it back to the Moon, the rest of the volunteers had fallen."

The silence echoed with lingering hints of power. All there were shaken to the core already, but Cassandra was not in any mood to be gentle. She was determined to finish the story, once and for all. Another scene swam into focus in the minds of the watchers.

****************** 

It was the ball at the Moon Palace just before Beryl attacked. It was a familiar scene to them all. Each of the reincarnated members of the Silver Millennium remembered their own deaths far too well. The Scouts also knew the part of the Fall that Queen Serenity had shown them when they had visited the Moon just before their final battle with Beryl and the Negaforce at D-point. But this would be the first time that they would witness the whole of the horrendous battle that ended their former lives.

***************

The festivities had a frantic edge to them, as if everyone was determined to act as if nothing was wrong even if it was blatantly obvious that their quiet world was crumbling around them.

Perseus came bounding up to where Lita, Amy, Mina, and Raye were leaning on the rail of the wide balcony over looking the dance floor. They were dressed in their finery, but their faces were set in hard lines.

"Hello Percy," Raye stooped to pick up the aging cat. He had always been a favorite of hers, much more so than bossy Luna and lazy Artemis. She held him so that he could see Prince and Princess dancing below them.

"What's the news?" Mina asked quietly, the cheerful girl totally subsumed by the grim warrior within.

Perseus sighed. "The Outer Guard, minus Pluto, will be here in a few hours. They were finally able to make it through the remains of Athena sometime last night."

"That's good news. With most of the Sailor Scouts here, we'll be able to put up a fight," Lita pounded her fist against the rail in emphasis. They watched Serenity and Endymion finish their dance and go out onto the balcony over looking the fountains.

"How is Cassandra?" Amy asked.

"She's better, but she is still very weak." Percy replied. He reached out and snagged Mina's sleeve with his claws. "Please try to keep her out of the fighting as much as possible. We could still loose her if she over does it."

Mina patted him on the head and gently disengaged his claws. "We'll try, but I can't promise anything." The cat nodded.

Luna and Artemis came running through the ballroom. "We're under attack!" "Everyone get to the battlements!"

Raye set Percy down and he ran to help spread the warning.

"Looks like we won't get to wait for the Outer Guard after all. Transform everyone!" Mina commanded. "Venus Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

After they had all transformed, Venus said, "You know your assignments?" Nods all around. "Then let's go Scouts!" The four young warriors ran off to battle.

The scene flashed to just outside the Moon Palace walls. Beryl floated above her army, laughing madly. "Queen Serenity! Where is your precious daughter and her beloved Endymion?" she called. "I've brought some old friends that I'm sure they would love to get reacquainted with! My Generals!" Beryl swung her staff to point to the front of her army.

Venus and Jupiter, who were helping guard the main gates, looked at each other in dismay.

"She has Endymion's Guard!" Venus said as her heart sank to her knees. "They know the defenses as well as we do!"

"We're screwed," Jupiter growled, "but let's take those traitors with us!" Venus nodded in agreement.

The army attacked, led by the Generals. Venus, Jupiter and their soldiers fell youma after youma, but the hoard moved onward, pressing against the gates until they burst under the sheer weight of bodies. Jupiter was pulled down by a mass of writhing youma. She called down her lightening in one final massive strike that blew a huge whole in the attacking army.

"Jupiter!" Venus screamed as she raced to where her friend had fallen. She ran right into Jadeite, who thrust his sword through her abdomen. The General blinked and recognition poured into his face as he cradled her dying body. "Venus, I'm…" he began, but Venus was too far-gone to hear. She raised her hand to place her finger in the center of his chest. "Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" She blew his heart out before her own stopped.

The three remaining Generals spared their fallen comrade barely a glance before moving into the Palace. "Split up," Malachite ordered. "Find the Moon Queen and report her location to Her Majesty, Queen Beryl." The other two simply nodded and took different passageways. The following youma ran mindlessly through the Palace, killing all that they met. 

Nephrite went down the passage the led to the throne room. The passage was deserted, but the door to the throne room itself was being guarded by Princess Serenity's auburn-haired major-domo. She held her staff of office at ready. Nephrite brought his pike down so that the blade was pointed at her throat. "Let me pass girl."

Tears ran from the girl's bleak eyes. "No, Nephrite. I cannot let you by."

"I don't want to hurt you girl. Get out of the way!"

"No." The girl made no move to defend herself as Nephrite moved closer. He put the blade of his pike within inches of her pale face. She simply watched; the only movement she made was the slow trickle of her tears.

"Why won't you move?" he whispered.

"Because I made a vow to serve and protect my Princess, even with my life." The girl leaned her staff against the door behind her and pushed the pike away from her far enough that she had an unobstructed view of Nephrite's face. "You made a vow to me once, Nephrite. Do you remember?"

"No," he whispered, anguish pushing aside the cold fire Beryl had set in his heart.

"I think you do, my love." 

Nephrite dropped his pike and buried his face in his hands, "What am I doing?" he groaned. The girl gathered him into her arms. They clung to each other as their world burned to ash around them until a band of roving youma came upon them and tore them to shreds.

*******

Zoicite had chosen the passage that led toward the private quarters of the nobility. She ran into Sailor Mars as she made her way toward the Queen's suite. The two held a running battle, with Zoicite sending youma after youma at the Scout while keeping herself mostly out of harm's way. Mars was quickly becoming exhausted as she was forced further and further back. She finally toasted the last youma that Zoicite had with her.

"Now you'll have to face me yourself, witch!" Mars glared at the General, trying to hide her exhaustion.

"Gladly," Zoicite pulled out her crystal sword.

"No," Sailor Athena stepped out of a side passage; "This is my fight." She was unsteady, but she was on her feet and the slender bladed sword in her hand was already stained with green blood. "Go find the Queen, Mars. Endy and Sere are near her."

"But Athena!" Mars protested as the gray Scout stepped between her and Zoicite.

"Go!" Athena commanded, her eyes never leaving the General. "Protect them for me. I'll stop Zoicite." The raven-haired Scout hesitated for a split second, then ran up the passageway, her duty forcing her to leave a friend behind. A friend that she knew in her heart would die.

"Do you really think that you can stop me Athena? Your planet is rubble and you are barely able to stand!" Zoicite sneered. Athena simply moved her sword into an enguarde position and waited. She didn't have to wait for long.

They fought furiously for several minutes, but Athena was weakening quickly and she knew that she could not hold the almost unscathed Zoicite for long. She finally allowed Zoicite to find an opening in her guard. Zoicite's sword bit deeply into her side. But before the General could pull her crystal blade free, Athena drove her own sword to the hilt into her friend's chest. The two girls fell to the floor, side by side.

"Cass, what have I done?" Zoicite whispered through the blood trickling out of her mouth. "Forgive…"

"'S alright," Athena slurred, "We're still best friends, forever…" She reached her gloved hand out to Zoicite. "Pinkie swear?"

"Pinkie swear." Zoicite managed to link her little finger around her friend's as she slipped away.

"…forgive you," Athena whispered before her gray eyes turned black with death. The two friends lay undisturbed in a spreading pool of green and red blood as the battle raged around them through the Moon Palace. 

Perseus found them as he made his way toward the Queen. Tears ran down his cheeks as he closed his charge's eyes with a velvet paw. He gave her a last loving kiss on her pale cheek before walking away, leaving a trail of bloody footprints in his wake.

*****************

In the skies above the Palace, Beryl was growing impatient. "Those fools are taking too long! Send forth the Seven Shadows!" A wizen man beside her bowed and did as his Queen ordered. The Seven Shadows began to hunt through the Palace.

"Now, things will go quicker!" Beryl declared. She looked up as a needle-nosed spacecraft shrieked through the sky toward the Moon Palace, the symbol of Uranus plain to see on the fuselage. "It seems that I'll get to deal personally with some of those miserable Scouts myself." She laughed madly as she shot a huge burst of Nega-power at the incoming ship.

*****************

Uranus sworn ferociously as she sent her prized ship into evasive maneuvers, but it was too late. She almost dodged the first bolt, but it clipped her engine. The ship went into a slow ballistic plummet toward the lunar surface. Uranus knew that she could not avoid the next blast. She reached a hand out to Neptune. The turquoise-haired girl brought her lover's hand up to her lips. Saturn wrapped one arm around Neptune and the other around Uranus. "I'm sorry…" Uranus whispered. Her last thought was of bitter failure as her prized ship turned into a ball of expanding gases along with her lover, her young friend and herself.

*************************

Sailor Mercury had gathered the tattered remnants of several squads of Silver Army regulars in a defensible part of Palace grounds. She kept the area shrouded with her fog and used her visor and computer to help direct the soldiers in attacking any enemy foolish enough to come into reach. Her computer registered the destruction of the Outer Guard's ship and her heart ached with the knowledge that they were dead. She was worried about the remaining Scouts and Princess Serenity, but was unable to leave to go find them. 

The fog was dissipating again. She prepared to launch another Mercury Bubbles Blast as two huge youma lumbered out of the straggling wisps of fog. Something about one of them caught her eye. She fired her attack and the visibility dropped. She moved closer to the one that had caught her attention. Her heart froze in her chest as she recognized his eyes. "Greg…" she breathed, it was a mistake for she was heard. The youma turned to attack her, but hesitated for an instant. Its companion didn't. The giant cat-creature swung a massive paw and its razor sharp claws shredded Mercury's uniform and the body underneath. The youma fell to its knees by the dead Scout. He picked her body up and held it, rocking back and forth slowly. The cat-creature moved on to attack the nearby soldiers and was soon joined by five other creatures. Together, the six other Shadows finished off the pitiful remains of the Silver Army.

******************

Mars had finally reached where she could see Queen Serenity, Princess Serenity, and Prince Endymion. She breathed a sigh of relief at seeing them still alive. The Fire Scout began to pick her way across the rubble-strewn grounds to the balcony where the Royalty was gathered. The click of a boot heel on stone caused her to spin around. Malachite was standing behind and to the left of her. He did not see her.

"My Queen," he called, "The Moon Queen, her daughter and Endymion are on a balcony over looking the Court of Fountains."

"Finally Malachite you have done something right!" Beryl's disembodied voice answered.

Mars sprang at the General, her teeth bared in a snarl. "Traitor!" she screamed. Malachite caught her body on the flat of his blade and flung her away. Mars bounced off a half-fallen pillar and landed in a pile of broken stone. Her head hung from her shoulders at an impossible angle. Her neck was broken. 

Malachite stared at her rag doll body as her last word echoed and re-echoed through his mind. "I am not a traitor, Sailor Mars. I serve Beryl faithfully." 'What of Endymion?' a soft voice asked. 'He is your true liege, not the witch who has corrupted you.' "Mars?" he whispered, "But you are dead!" 'Yes, that is why you must take my place. Guard Endymion. Guard the Princess. Guard Serenity.' "But…" Malachite protested as looked wildly around the ruined grounds. 'Face the truth Malachite!' Mars's spirit demanded. Malachite screamed as the veil Beryl had placed across his mind was shredded. He spun toward his Prince and charged, determined to get there in time to protect him from Beryl. He would be too late.

*******************

Endymion had rejected Beryl's proposition. She snatched him from the balcony and Princess Serenity had cast herself after him. The mad queen killed them both in a fit of pique.

Queen Serenity, determined that her kingdom would not end in such tragedy, placed the Imperium Silver Crystal on the Moon Wand and cried "Cosmic Moon Power!" She trapped the Negaversians in the Crystal and used the last of her strength to send Princess Serenity and her Court to the future, where she hoped that they could live in peace and happiness. Queen Serenity knew that the seals on the Negaverse would fail eventually, so she put Artemis, Luna, and Perseus into cold sleep capsules and sent them along with everything that they would need to reawaken the Sailor Scouts, if the need for them ever arose again. 

The dust settled over the bleak, empty ruins of a once mighty kingdom, as Queen Serenity died alone.

******************

Late afternoon sunshine streamed through the windows of the Whitmore living room. The eight young people and three cats stirred slowly.

"That was intense," Lita said softly as she sat back down on the couch. After a second, Mina and Amy sank down beside her.

Darien stared across the wide room at his once-cousin. She still wore the silver gown and her eyes still glowed with a burgundy light. "Cassie, was all of that real?"

"Yes," she sighed as she let go of the remnants of her power. The gown faded back into her yellow sundress. "Athena power can only show the true past, no embellishments on mine or anyone else's part."

The young man rubbed the back of his head. "Then I guess I owe you an apology Zoicite."

Zoë lifted her head from Raye's shoulder. "No, Your Highness, you had a right to be wary of me."

"No, I should have known that Cass would never have a Nega-villian in her house. I was just too pig-headed to see past, well, the past." He reached out a hand to her and pulled her to her feet.

Zoë broke into a huge, if wavering, grin, "As you say, Your Highness!"

Darien blushed, "You can drop the 'Your Highness' bit. I'm not a prince now. Darien will do just fine."

"Okay, Darien. By the way, my name is Zoë, not Zoicite!"

"Yay!" Serena shouted, "I love it when old enemies become new friends! Hey! Is that cheese cake?"

"Meatball Head strikes again! Can you go two minutes without feeding that mouth of yours Serena?" Raye sniped.

"You're so mean Raye!" Serena wailed as she headed toward the snacks on the coffee table, dragging Darien behind her.

Cassie crossed over to her best friend. She was pale and shaky, but otherwise unharmed by the extended use of Athena Power. 

"What have I got myself into?" Zoë asked as she watched a typical Scout get-together starting up.

"You'll get used to it."

Next time on Sailor Moon: Serenity's Court

Cassandra has gotten little sleep this weekend. How will a grumpy, sleep deprived Cassie deal with irritated teachers, annoying cheerleaders, and Negaverse attacks? Find out in: Long Held Secrets Revealed.

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	10. Long Held Secrets Revealed

Chapter Nine: Long Held Secrets

Cassandra sighed to herself. She really hated Mondays. This one promised to be worse than usual. She had gotten very little sleep since Wednesday. She hadn't been able to sleep after her date on Thursday night; she had talked all night to Zoë on Friday night. The impromptu Scout meeting Saturday hadn't ended until almost one am when Mina and Lita had finally left. She had been forced by a sadistic mother to get up at eight on Sunday morning in order to have a 'family day' that hadn't ended until 11 p.m. To top it all off, she had gotten up at 4 that morning to deal with a problem in her information network. All in all, she was about ready to sleep while standing and Patricia Haruna's lecture on the Neolithic era was not helping. Despite her best efforts, her eyes slid inexorably closed.

"Miss Whitmore!" the irate teacher shouted.

"What?" Cassie's head popped up and scanned the room, her hand automatically closing over the transformation pen that instinct had caused her to summon from her sub-space pocket. "Oh, yes Miss Haruna?"

"Do you think that you know enough about this topic to ignore my lecture?" Haruna practically had steam shooting out of her ears.

"No ma'am. I wasn't ignoring you." Cassie replied, her irritation at herself seeping into her voice. The teacher, who was already upset, misinterpreted it.

"Really? It looked like you were sleeping to me. How could you have possibly have heard a word I said?"

Cassie's temper flared, "Would you like proof, ma'am?" She stood up and looked the woman right in the eye. The students stared at Cassie like she had grown an extra head or something. Chris took one look at his sister and proceeded to try to sink directly into the floor.

"The term Neolithic is from the Greek, meaning 'new stone'…" Cassie began. She recited Miss Haruna's lecture back to her word for word. The woman's jaw dropped.

"That's sufficient Cassie. Please take your seat." Haruna gathered her scattered train of thought and proceeded with the lecture.

'Yep', Cassie thought, 'this is going to be a great day.'

****************************

"Cassandra!" 

Molly's Bronx accent cut through the fog in Cassie's mind. She turned from where she was leaning against her locker in the girls' locker room. "Yes Molly?"

"How did you do that?" the auburn-haired girl asked as she was changing into her gym uniform.

"Do what?" Cassie asked.

"How did you know Miss H's lecture like that?" Serena added from across the aisle.

Cassie sighed. She should have known that the incident would come back to haunt her. "I have an eclectic memory when I need it."

"A what?" Serena and Molly both had no idea what she had said.

"She means that she has a perfect memory," Amy explained.

"Ohhh!" And the light came on.

"I just turned on an, an internal tape recorder and recorded the lecture so that I wouldn't have to pay attention to it right then," Cassie added.

"Where can I get one of those? Imagine the great beauty sleep I've been missing!" Serena exclaimed.

Cassie laughed. "It's not something you can just go out and buy, Serena. Besides, like everything else, it has its price. You could say that it just comes with the territory." Cassie leaned over and tapped Serena's communicator watch significantly. Serena nodded slowly as she realized what Cassie was hinting at.

Molly watched the exchange in silence. She was really beginning to hate the secrets that Serena seemed to share with everyone except her. Her mouth tightened in anger for a moment before she shook it off. "Where is Coach Canton? I haven't see her all day."

"I heard that she went to a funeral or something," a girl called from down the row of lockers.

"Yeah," another girl said, "Coach Lou is going to take over for our class."

A great groan went up around the locker room. Coach Lou was the boys' gym teacher and the football coach. He cared for nothing but what he referred to as the Big Three: football, basketball, and baseball. He had a huge beer belly, a tendency to cuss like a sailor, and had an unlit cigar perpetually clamped between his teeth in blatant disregard for the school's no tobacco rule.

Cassie banged her head against a locker. "What else can go wrong today?" she asked an unsympathetic ceiling.

"Get your asses out here ladies!" a gruff baritone shouted from the locker room door. The girls filed into the gym like prisoners on their way to their own hanging.

"Okay ladies," Coach Lou said around his cigar, "Today you are going to do… gymnastics." Several girls fainted from surprise. He snorted at the reaction. "I am too busy whipping those punks," he jerked a thumb at the boys waiting on the other side of the gym, "into athletes to instruct you girls. I am leaving Heather in charge. She'll teach you to do tumbling or some such thing." The coach sauntered over to the guys. "Okay you no good pups! Out to the field! It's time for some drilling!"

"Like okay! I'm going start you on something simple. Everyone do a cartwheel!" Heather said in a too bright, bubbly voice. She had several of her airhead friends along with her. "Come on everyone! One at a time on the mat!" 

Cassie rubbed her aching eyes. 'Heather, why did it have to be Heather?' Heather Bryson was one of those types of people that Cassie couldn't stand. She thought that being a senior made her a god. She was… perky. She got her kicks out of making fun of anyone who wasn't popular or rich or basically anyone not in her clique. She was the essential stuck-up, high school was the high point of her life, fluff-headed, bleach blonde cheerleader. A thud startled Cassie out of her sleep-deprived wanderings. 

"Serena! That is your name, isn't it?" Heather simpered. "Get up and try again! It's really very simple. Watch me!" The cheerleader did a quick cartwheel. Serena got up, trying to be a good sport. She attempted another cartwheel, but her long pigtail wrapped itself around a leg and down she went again.

Cassie sat down and put her head in her hands. "This is turning into the Monday From Hell and it's only second period." 

***********************

Later that day at Lunch

The gang was eating lunch out in the courtyard, like they did on every nice day. Amy was eating and reading. Lita was in a deep conversation with Molly, Mina, and Zoë about some boy. Christopher was pretending to ignore them, but was really listening carefully. Serena was inhaling her food at a tremendous rate. Cassie was trying to take a quick nap in hopes that she could get through the rest of the day. 

"Hey Cassie! Are you going to eat that cupcake?"

Cassie didn't even raise her head from the picnic table. She shoved her whole lunch over towards Serena. "Here, Highness. Help yourself."

Serena restrained herself with difficulty. "You sure Cassie? You haven't eaten anything."

Cassie raised her head to look at the blonde seated across from her. "I'm quite sure Princess." She put the lunch into Serena's waiting hands.

"Some princess. She's more peasant than royal, wouldn't you say Heather?" A girl's voice spoke, just loud enough for the jeer to float over from 'in' clique's nearby table. 

"Yeah," Heather sneered, "The only thing royal about her is that she's a royal klutz." Her group of flunkies laughed obediently.

Serena's face crumbled as the cruel laughter lashed at her. Lita surged to her feet intent on quieting the obnoxious senior; only Amy and Cassie's firm grip on her arms stopped her from charging.

"You shouldn't say things like that Heather. It's way too mean!" Molly exclaimed.

"You shouldn't say anything at all until you loose that horrible accent! Where did you get it? Steal it from a New York taxi driver?" Heather smiled viciously as Molly turned beet-red with embarrassment and fury. Lita growled and tried to jerk free of her restraints.

"Back off Heather!" Christopher stepped out from his place at the table, purposely putting himself between Heather and Lita. Mina wordlessly joined him. She, too, didn't want Lita to get in trouble for smashing in the snob's perfectly made-up face.

"Christopher," the sugar in Heather's voice could cause cavities, "Why don't you come over here? You don't belong with those outcasts."

Chris put an arm around Mina's shoulders. "My friends are better people than you'll ever be."

Heather bristled. "Your friends are losers! They aren't fit to carry my bags."

"Losers?" Cassie didn't raise her voice, but every conversation in the courtyard died instantly. At the edge of hearing, a menacing, cold melody snaked its way through the crowd, chilling everyone into immobility.

"Yes! Losers!" Heather felt uneasy at all of the sudden attention. She hadn't meant to cause this big a scene, but she couldn't back away from the challenge in Cassie's eyes.

"Perhaps you would care to elaborate?" Heather stared down at the seated girl, her mouth opening and closing. Cassandra released Lita's arm and calmly crossed her legs. She leaned back against the tabletop and folded her hands in her lap. "That is a nice mimicry of a tuna, but would you please enlighten me as to why we are 'losers'?" She waited with exaggerated patience for Heather to respond.

"Well? Well, take Serena for example," Heather finally stuttered, "She eats like a pig!" Heather's cronies all nodded in agreement until a fierce look from Lita stilled them.

"Serena has a high metabolic rate which requires a high caloric intake. She has been blessed with the ability to eat what ever she wants without gaining any weight, unlike you," Cassie smiled coldly, "Those are diet pills that you take everyday before lunch, aren't they Miss Bryson? Or are they something a little less…legal? I've heard that many illegal drugs make good appetite suppressants." Heather turned several shades of red while sputtering in rage. Cassie cocked her head to the side and said, "What are you trying to say Miss Bryson?" Heather stomped off with her entourage following behind like bewildered ducklings. 

The rest of the students went back to their meals, most pleased with Heather's embarrassment. Some of them were uneasy; they could sense the edge of the power swirling through the school but had no idea what it was. Soon afterward the bell ending lunch rang. Everyone got up and headed back to their classes.

"How did you know that Heather takes pills?" Lita asked as she threw away the remains of her meal.

"I didn't," Cassie yawned mightily, "She just seemed the type."

"Never play poker with my sister. She can bluff with the best of them," Chris grinned and took Mina's arm. "Escort you to your next class, my lady?"

"Yes please," Mina giggled. Everyone began going his or her separate ways. Molly and Cassie walked together down the hall towards their lockers.

"I wish Melvin had been here to see Heather that mad. She has tormented him for years," Molly said softly.

"Are you and Melvin an item?" Cassie asked.

"Not any more. We dated for a while, but we are really just good friends. He's more like a brother to me than anything." Molly sighed, "He deserves someone that really loves him." They walked in silence for a while. "Cassandra, why did you call Serena 'princess' and 'highness'? You don't normally do that."

"A slip of a lip can sink a ship." Cassie muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing Molly," Cassie racked her tired mind to come up with a way out of this mess. "Serena has the heart of a princess, that's all."

"Oh," Molly stopped to wait for Cassie to get her books from her locker. "You know, I've often thought that myself." Cassie looked at her sharply. "Ever since eighth grade, I've been sure that there is something more to Serena than meets the eye." Molly laughed, "I bet that sounds corny, huh?"

"Not in the least," Cassie smiled at the auburn haired girl, "See you later!" The two split up to go to their afternoon classes. Cassandra made a mental note to talk to Serena about Molly. She was more convinced than ever that the girl was a Silver Millennium survivor.

*****************************

The Monday From Hell was finally almost over. School let out and Cassie said a silent prayer of thanks as she shoved her books into her backpack. She headed out the front doors on her way to go straight to bed, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. She stumbled down the front stairs, focused only on putting one foot in front of the other in the general direction of home. The exhausted girl almost ran right into Serena and Molly before she saw them. One sophomore grabbed each arm and managed to keep Cassie on her feet as she came to a ragged halt.

"I thought Serena was the only one able to sleepwalk in broad daylight around here," Molly said slyly.

Serena rolled her eyes at her best friend before asking, "Cassie, would you like us to walk you home?"

"I thought that you had detention Serena," Cassie temporized as she rubbed sleepy eyes.

"I did, but Miss H has a hot date tonight. She let me go with a warning."

"In that case, I would be honored if you walked me home. That way I might actually get there."

The three girls headed off toward the Whitmore house. Molly said, "I've been meaning to ask. Why are you so wasted Cassandra?"

"I just haven't had much sleep lately."

"Well, it's a good thing that you're not like Serena. She wouldn't have been awake at all today."

"Hey!" Serena mock-growled, "Some friend you are! You sound like Heather!"

"That's a major league insult Serena!" Molly stuck her nose in the air; "I'm much better at insulting you than Heather!" The two friends traded insults good-naturedly as they kept Cassie headed toward home.

As they passed by the entrance to the football stadium, someone, several someones, started screaming inside. Cassie stopped dead in her tracks and dragged Serena to a halt. She looked up at the heavens and said, "Will this day never end? I just want to go to sleep!" 

"What is it Cassie?" Serena asked.

"What do you think it is? Come on we've got to check this out." Cassie started toward the open gates leading into the home-side bleachers. 

"Oh! Right!" Serena started after her. When she realized that Molly was following her, she stopped so suddenly that the girl ran right into her and they both went tumbling. As they untangled themselves, Cassie waited impatiently a few yards away.

"Molly," Serena began, "why don't you…"

"No way Serena! You're not running off without me this time!" Molly said as the anger she had felt earlier return a hundred-fold. She climbed to feet and placed her hands on her hips in a defiant stance. She stared hard down at Serena who was still sitting on the ground. "I've been you're friend since we were little kids and I'm tired of getting shoved off onto the sidelines!" 

"Molly…" Serena whined as she rubbed the back of her head. A new burst of screams interrupted her.

"We don't have time for this!" Cassie shouted back at the pair. "Just come on Serena! Molly is trustworthy. Besides, she'll be safer with us than running around by herself if this is another attack." Cassie took off running for tunnel that led under the home bleachers onto the field beyond. Molly followed after her before Serena could climb back to her feet.

"But Cassie! Molly wait up!" the former princess and future queen wailed as she ran after her friends into the dark tunnel.

***********

Serena started to scream when something grabbed her in the concrete tunnel. A hard hand covered her mouth before she could do more than draw a deep breath. A voice whispered in her ear, "Quiet. Every sound we make carries into the stadium." The hand removed itself from her face.

"Cassie!" Serena hissed, "You scared me out of ten years of my life!" Her eyes adjusted slowly to the dim light. Molly and Cassie were standing near her, shadows only identifiable by their shape and size.

"What now Cassie?" Molly whispered.

"Just follow me. And walk softly," Cassie answered as she dropped her backpack to the ground. She started slowly down the tunnel under the massive concrete bleachers. She made no more sound than a cat would. Molly and Serena were less successful at being silent, but they were trying. 

The three girls stopped just inside the field end of the tunnel. Cassie motioned for the two younger girls to remain where they were and slunk up to where she could see the field. She returned with a stony look on her face.

"It's a Negaverse attack alright. One youma and what looks like a general of some type have the band and the cheerleaders trapped. They're sucking them dry." Cassie reported grimly.

"The Negaverse?" Molly squeaked, "What are we going to do?"

Cassie smiled slightly and met Serena's eyes, "As much as I would like to Heather to have a personal run-in with a particularly nasty Nega-monster, we can't let the rest of those kids be attacked. We'll have to stop them."

"How?" Molly asked, "We're not the Sailor Scouts or anything!"

"Actually…" Serena said as she touched her locket, "We are." She nodded to Cassie.

Cassie pulled out her transformation pen and held it up above her head, "Athena Star Power!"

"Moon Cosmic Power!" Molly stared at them amazed and slightly appalled that she hadn't realized sooner who Sailor Moon really was.

Sailor Athena pulled her sword and her compact communicator out of her sub-space pocket. "Molly, make your way up to the announcer's booth once we have their attention." She tossed the compact to the stunned girl. "This is a communicator. Use it to call in the other Scouts. Direct them in the best way to get the drop on the Nega-trash out there. You should be able to see everything from the booth." Molly nodded, not trusting her ability to say anything coherent. "If the Scouts give you any trouble, just tell them that you are also from the Silver Millennium. That should at least get them to get over here."

Sailor Moon and Sailor Athena slipped down to make their grand entrance well away from the tunnel's mouth where Molly was waiting for an opportunity to sneak up to the announcer's booth above her.

"Stop right there Nega-creeps! The band and the cheerleaders keep spirits up even if we are loosing the game! I won't allow you to mess with School Spirit! I am Sailor Moon! I right wrongs and triumph over evil, and that means you slime-miesters!" Sailor Moon posed dramatically on the home-side bench.

"And I'm Sailor Athena! I am not in a good mood, therefore, you are in deep trouble!" Athena pointed her sword right at the general's throat. 

"Oh, I'm really intimidated," The general laughed coldly from where he floated above the tangle of fallen bands-people and instruments. He had dark brown hair and eyes and wore a uniform of an icy light blue trimmed with black. "Since we are introducing ourselves, I am General Hermes and this is the youma Mudpie. Mudpie, attack!"

The youma looked like a giant toddler, who would have been almost cute if it wasn't made of mud and had empty black holes where it's eyes should have been. It shambled forward, yanked up a section of the carefully tended football field sod and quickly made patted together a ball of mud from the earth underneath. It flung the mud at the two Sailor Scouts as it yelled "Mud Pie" in a dreadful imitation of a child's voice. The Scouts dodged at the last minute. The mud hit the bench they had been standing on and caused it to burst into flames.

"Oh great! Mud pie a flammbe!" Athena snapped, "We've got to get that thing away from the band. They could get cooked alive!" 

"Right!" Sailor Moon shouted. The two Scouts worked on luring the lumbering youma down the field. General Hermes seemed to be content to just watch from his floating vantagepoint.

Molly finally made her way into the announcer's booth high up on the home side of the stadium. "Man!" she said to herself, "Maintenance is going to be pissed when they see the mess that thing is making of the field." She sat down in the announcer's chair. "Now how does this thing work…" She fumbled with the catch to Athena's communicator compact. It finally sprang open. She stared at her reflection in the mirror for a second before taking a deep breath and pressing the button labeled a heart with little antennae on top and a cross attached at the bottom. Amy's face appeared in the mirror. 

"Cassie, what… Molly! What are you doing with Cassie's communicator?!" Amy's jaw went slack in amazement.

"You're a Sailor Scout? Of course you are," Molly shook her head; "There is no time for explanations. Cassandra gave me this and told me to call in the other Sailor Scouts. There is a youma attacking the band in the football stadium." The auburn-haired girl surveyed the fight below her. "If you come in from the visitor side at the north end of the stadium, you can get behind the youma and the general."

"There's a general too?" Amy snapped her jaw closed. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Mercury out."

Molly sighed in relief, "One down." She pressed the next button, the one labeled with an upside down heart with an arrow coming out of it. 

*******************

"You know," Sailor Moon panted, "This 'distract the monster' business is getting old!"

"You're telling me!" Athena knelt on the sideline, leaning heavily on her sword. "When are the others going to get here so we can finish this?"

"Mercury Bubbles Blast!" The shrouding fog announced the arrival of Sailor Mercury. She and the other members of the Inner Guard ran over to Athena and Sailor Moon.

"Well, that answers that question," Athena said wryly. 

"Why did you tell Molly about us?" Mars demanded as soon as she was in speaking distance.

"Nice of you to finally show up," Sailor Moon said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"What's the story with the youma?" Jupiter asked quickly, before Mars could blow up.

"It's slow, rather stupid, and flings burning mud pies," Athena shoved herself to her feet using the sword as a prop. 

"Mercury?" Venus asked. 

Mercury whipped out her computer and quickly scanned the monster. "If we hit it first with fire and then freeze it, it should be weakened enough for Sailor Moon to finish it off."

The fog dissipated as Mercury finished speaking.

"Alright Mars! Light that Nega-slime up!" Venus commanded.

The raven haired Scout nodded sharply, ready to rid herself of some of her anger by frying something. "Mars Fire Ignite!" The mud-toddler stopped moving as the fire swept over its body. The mud hardened in the searing heat.

"Mercury Ice Bubbles Freeze!" Thousands of cracks appeared over the youma's body as it tried to cope with sudden extreme temperature change. 

"Now Sailor Moon!" the Scouts chorused.

"Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" The monster turned to dust as the huge pink heart hit it.

The sound of one person clapping very slowly echoed through the now silent stadium. "Very impressive ladies. Maybe you'll be worthy opponents after all," General Hermes said from high above.

"Come down here and I'll show you impressive!" Jupiter shook her fist at the floating man.

"Maybe another time. Goodbye for now." Hermes bowed and then disappeared in a cloud of tiny ice crystals.

"Who was that?" Venus asked.

"General Hermes," Sailor Moon answered. 

Molly came out to the group of Scouts on the football field. "Now that the fight is over, could someone please fill me in?" The Scouts looked back and forth at each other, all at a loss for words.

Finally Athena said, "Let's get off of the field before the band and the cheerleaders wake up." She hefted her weapon. "I don't want to be tempted to use this on Heather." She slid her sword back into her sub-space pocket as she led the way back to the tunnel under the home stands. The others followed silently.

Once in the tunnel, Cassandra de-transformed and headed over to her discarded backpack. Perseus sat near it; he had arrived in time to see the end of the fight. The others soon followed suit and turned back into their civilian forms. Everyone stood around, shuffling their feet, unsure of what to say to Molly or each other. Cassie finally heaved a sigh of pure frustration and swept up Perseus. She shoved the cat into Molly's arms. "Here, Percy can explain anything you want. I'm going home to bed." She snatched up her backpack, turned on her heel and left.

"How can a cat tell me anything?" Molly asked. Her bewildered expression broke the tension and everyone laughed.

"Come on Moll!" Serena said as she put an arm around her friend's shoulder, "Let's go to Raye's and pig out on the chocolate cupcakes she's got hidden in her room. This is going to be a long story!"

"Meatball Head! How did you know about my chocolate stash?!" The outraged priestess followed her Princess out of the stadium fuming all of the way.

Next time on Sailor Moon: Serenity's Court

The new enemy now has a face: General Hermes. Molly has finally discovered Serena's secret, but how will she figure in the Sailor Team? Find out more in: Who is This Hermes?

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	11. Who is this Hermes?

Chapter 10: Who Is This Hermes?

Cassie skipped school Tuesday and spent the whole day catching up on much needed sleep. She was in a much better frame of mind when she arrived at the Cherry Hill Temple after school had let out. She met Zoë as they were both walking up the steps from the street.

"Good afternoon Lady Guardian!" Cassie grinned at her friend.

"You're in a better mood today! Maybe you should skip school more often," Zoë replied.

"Don't tempt me!" The girls laughed companionably as they entered the temple grounds. Raye's Grandpa met them at the door of the temple.

"Hello girls! Are you here to become acolytes? You'd look real cute in temple robes," the impish man grinned toothily up at them.

"Grandpa! Leave my friends alone!" Raye stormed out of the temple behind him swinging her broom wildly. 

"Raye! Watch where you're swinging that thing!" he bellowed as the straw end missed him by millimeters. He wandered off grumbling under his breath about cruel granddaughters and the need for more cute help around the temple.

Raye lowered her broom. "Sorry about that. He just gets lonely around here now that Chad is taking classes at the college."

"No problem Raye. He doesn't mean any harm." Zoë grinned. "Actually I'm kind of flattered that he thinks that I could be a cute acolyte." Raye rolled her eyes.

"Are we the first here?" Cassie asked.

"Yes, except for the cats. They got here a while ago. But Amy just called on the communicator. The others will be here as soon as they can drag Mina away from your brother." 

"Speaking of communicators…" Zoë drawled suggestively.

"Oh stop hinting!" Cassie pulled a watch out of her purse. She handed it to her friend.

Zoë took the watch in her hand and examined it closely. It had a round, gunmetal gray body with the ring symbol of Earth surrounding a crown in green on the flip top. She flipped it open with a grin on her face. "I felt so guilty about the fight yesterday. I didn't even know that there was any trouble." She closed the face and fastened the watch to her wrist. "Where did you get this?"

"I had Percy whip it up for you last night. He made one for Molly too." She glanced over at Zoë when she mentioned the newest member of the team. 

Zoë caught the look and smiled lopsidedly. She patted Cassie on the shoulder. "Don't worry Cass. Molly and I had a long talk on the phone last night. She doesn't blame me for Nephrite's death."

Raye nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Molly doesn't remember much about the first time we lived through eighth grade. We had a time explaining the whole thing to her." The priestess led the way into the private quarters behind the main temple. As they entered Raye's sitting room, they heard loud laughter coming up the hill. "That's the rest of the girls, I bet."

The girls piled into the room, giggling and shedding bags and jackets. It was getting to be that time of year when it was nippy in the morning and hot in the afternoon. Once everyone was settled, Luna called the meeting to order, or at least she attempted to call the meeting to order. Everyone ignored her as they caught up on gossip. She and Perseus shared wry smile.

"Cassandra?" Molly's Bronx accent cut through the babble of conversation.

"Yes Molly."

"You said yesterday that I was from the Silver Millennium. Does that mean that I have powers too?" That questioned silenced the room like all of Luna's shouting couldn't. 

"Well," Cassie began; rubbing the back of her head slightly embarrassed at the pleading look in Molly's eyes. "I don't know if you have any powers. I don't remember enough about Serenity's majordomo. My memories are so full of holes that it resembles Swiss cheese. All I really know about your former life was that you were very much in love with Nephrite and that you were extremely close to Princess Serenity."

Serena smacked herself on the forehead. "Why didn't I see that? Molly was the girl in the conference room, the one with the staff."

"What conference room? What staff?" Molly's confusion was evident.

"I'll show you," Cassie reached across the low table and took Molly's hand as her eyes turned to burgundy with Athena power. "Athena Memory Vortex!" The tendrils of burgundy power swirled around the pair like smoke. Cassandra showed her the last meeting in the conference room at the Moon Palace and the final battle of the Moon Kingdom. The two stayed frozen for almost ten minutes before coming suddenly back to life. Tears were sliding silently down Molly's cheeks.

"That was intense," the young girl whispered brokenly, "I can't believe that I lived a whole other life."

"I know," Serena said softly as she hugged her friend.

After a moment, Molly wiped her tears from her face. "How can I be of any use against the Negaverse without any powers?"

"With this," Cassie pulled another watch out of her purse. This one was the same red as Sailor Moon's bows. It had a yellow crescent moon with a yellow crown nestled between its points on the flip top. "This is a communicator. You can be another set of eyes and ears." She placed the watch on the table and slid it across to Molly. She tapped the insignia with a fingernail. "You're a member of the Moon Court. Never doubt yourself."

"That's right Molly!" Perseus exclaimed as he leapt up on the table. "Luna, Artemis, and I have no mystic powers. Neither does Christopher for that matter. And we all do our part in the battle against evil!"

Molly nodded decisively. "You're right! I'll do anything to help my friends! Besides I'm tired of being attacked without being able to call in cavalry." She fastened the watch to her wrist with a fierce grin. Everyone cheered wildly.

After the noise had died down some, Luna jumped up on the table and sat up tall with her tail wrapped tightly around her hindquarters. "Can we get down to business now?" The remaining jubilance died down into seriousness. "We need to discuss this new general, Hermes. Artemis?"

The white cat cleared his throat as he joined the other two felines on the low table. "Amy, Luna, and I went over the few readings that she gathered at the fight yesterday. This new general is something different from Beryl's generals. Zoë, do you know anything about him?"

The girl twirled a loose curl around her finger as she concentrated on her memories of the Dark Kingdom. "I don't know anything about a Dark Kingdomer named Hermes. In fact, as far as I know Malachite, Nephrite, Jadeite, and I were the only generals, period." She smiled weakly, "We were all very careful to make sure that none of the youma became intelligent enough to be a threat to our position. It wasn't very difficult to remove any competition. Most youma are dumber than dirt and easily manipulated, if you are willing to use fear tactics." She trailed off into silence. Gloom pervaded the room. 

Mina shifted uneasily. "Artemis." The cat turned to face his charge. "You said that this general was different than what we've seen before. How?"

Artemis turned to the blue-haired girl. "Amy, would you explain?"

Amy nodded and pulled out her computer and placed it on the table. "When I found out Beryl's generals were Endymion's Guardians, I went back and ran their energy profiles and compared them to Tuxedo Mask's. Under all of the negative energy, there was still a base line of Earth energy. This led me to design a program…"

"Amy, you loosing some of us," Raye interrupted. Amy looked up from her screen and saw the glaze-eyed looks on Mina and Lita's faces. Serena had slid down to lie on the floor. She sighed.

"Okay," she began again. "Beryl's generals had energy readings similar to Tuxedo Mask's. This new general doesn't." She snapped her computer closed.

"What kind of reading does Hermes have then?" Lita asked.

Amy stared down at her closed computer. She clinched her hands in her lap. "He exhibits traces of Mercury power."

"What?!!" Serena jumped bolt up right, catching the edge of the low table. She managed to over turn it, dumping the three cats and causing Amy's computer to go flying. Zoë caught the computer as it sailed by her head. Cassie snagged Percy as he slid by, but Luna and Artemis ended up on the floor. The table ended up upside down on top of Raye.

"Meatball Head!!!" the enraged priestess screamed; only her arms and legs sticking out from under the table. 

"Raaaye, it was just an accident!" Serena tried to explain. Raye just shoved the table off of her and stood up. Steam was coming from her ears. "Raye! You're not mad, are you? Heh, heh, heh." Serena laughed sheepishly. 

The priestess growled, "I'm going rip those meatballs right off your pointy head!" She lunged at the blonde, hands out-stretched to grab the nearest ponytail. Serena shrieked and ran out of the room. Raye followed on her heels, pausing only to grab her broom from where it leaned by the door.

"Is this normal?" Molly asked with a barely controlled laugh as she righted the table.

"Unfortunately, yes," Artemis groused. He and Luna were so tangled up that it would have been hard to tell where one cat ended and the next began if they weren't different colors. Mina and Lita pulled them apart with some difficulty. 

"Now Amy, before we were so rudely interrupted," Luna glared at Serena, who was running past the window with a broom-wielding Shinto priestess right behind her, "You explaining that this Hermes has some trace of Mercury power."

Amy retrieved her computer from Zoë and held it securely in her lap. "Yes," she said shortly.

"Well, that makes sense," Cassie said, "Hermes is the Greek version of Mercury in mythology."

"Does General Hermes use Mercury power Ames?" Mina asked.

"No," Amy sighed, "He uses Nega-energy. There is only a bare trace of Mercury power under the other power. I wouldn't even have noticed it if I didn't look for it."

"Do you," Lita asked hesitantly, her voice uncharacteristically subdued, "do you feel any connection to him?" 

The girl shook her head hard enough cause her short blue locks to flick across her face. "No, I don't sense anything through my powers, but I could swear that I know him from somewhere." Amy watched her finger trace over and over the Mercury symbol on her computer. Her brow was furrowed with lines of frustration.

Zoë reached over to tap the distraught girl on the shoulder. "Could he be a human who has been taken over? Like I was?"

Amy looked up into her green eyes. "That is a possibility."

Perseus cleared his throat. "I hesitate to mention this, but I feel that I must." All eyes fastened on the gray cat. "This Hermes could be a Mercurian Knight."

"You could be right Percy," Cassandra breathed. Her eyes were fixed on his as her mind raced. "That is a very good possibility. But how do we confirm it?" She pulled a little notebook from her purse and began scribbling furiously while mumbling under her breath.

"Cassie! What are you doing?" Molly asked, confused. 

Lita slammed her fist down on the table. "Could you interpret for the rest of us?"

Cassie didn't respond; her mind was still a million miles away. Percy glanced at her and shook his head. "You won't get anything out of her now. She's chasing some line of thought. She's been known to spend hours like that." The cat waved a paw at his charge as she continued muttering and scribbling, occasionally pausing to nod to herself or to chew on the end of her pen.

"Well then, you explain!" Amy almost begged, her hands white knuckled as they clutched the Mercury computer. 

Percy stretched out across the tabletop. "To understand the implications, you must understand how the Planetary Knights were placed in the scheme of things. During the Silver Millennium, there was an interlocking system of military services. It was this system of mutual protection that united the planets of the Alliance in a web of interlocking strands of loyalties as or more important than the treaties that linked the governments of the different planets. 

The first level of the military was the Silver Army whose loyalty was to the Silver Throne. The Silver Army drew its members from all of the planets. It was a place where any who didn't have good prospects could hope to make their fortunes while honorably serving their rulers. The officers were mostly the younger children of the aristocracy, those who would not inherit titles or lands from their parents. By design, these officers were assigned to garrisons on planets other than their homes. This policy helped insure that the officers would be less likely to get involved in local affairs and could remain, at least theoretically, impartial. The soldiers moved from base to base, planet to planet, in rotation. The members of the Silver Army usually eventually married people from planets other than their planet of origin, thus forming blood links between the different cultures and peoples of the Alliance. 

The second level of the military hierarchy was the Planetary Knights. These warriors were the personal retainers and guardians of the royal families. The number of Knights differed from planet to planet and from time to time. They were generally nobles, mainly the elder sons and daughters of the most powerful families on the planet. To have been a Planetary Knight was a sign of honor. It also guaranteed the loyalty of the nobles because each Knight swore an oath to the reigning monarch; an oath steeped in magic that bound them firmly to the throne. 

There were also Knights who earned their ranks through merit. It was these Knights who did the real work of defending the different monarchies. They generally came up through the ranks of the Silver Army; therefore they weren't necessarily from the planet whose thrones they were pledged to protect.

The third and highest level of the hierarchy was the one that bound the individual planetary monarchies to the Moon Kingdom: the Sailor Scouts. The planetary princesses were sworn to serve as guardians to Serenity, which ever Serenity was in her generation. They would wield the powers of the planets in service to the Silver Throne. 

In that manner, every warrior in the Solar System was loyal to Queen Serenity directly or indirectly."

"But what about the Earth?" Zoë asked, "There was no princess to swear to the Moon Kingdom's ruler."

Percy shrugged. "The Earth was the newest member of the Alliance. Even though the Moon orbits this planet, the Earthlings refused to join the Alliance for millennia. In fact, the governments of the Earth and the Silver Alliance were still working out the details of loyalties when Beryl and her army attacked. You must remember that it hadn't been all that long, only a few hundred years, that the Earth had had a planetary government. Before the founding of Endymion's Golden Kingdom, the Earth had been covered by hundreds of little, constantly warring kingdoms." Zoë nodded thoughtfully.

"All this talk of hierarchies is giving me a headache," Lita complained, "What does this have to do with our current problems?" She climbed to her feet and began to pace restlessly.

"The old allegiances may not have much relevance now," Luna said, "but if we could find out if this Hermes is really one of the Mercurian Knights, then we might be able to find a weakness that we can exploit. Maybe the old link to the Mercurian throne will be strong enough to over throw Negaverse control if we can find a way to activate it." The black cat stared of into space as she tried to dredge up her own fractured memories of the Silver Millennium, hoping to find some other bit of information that could be useful.

"It is also important because the Knights who could use mystic powers, and not all could, were generally the most powerful magic wielders in the system. Some could even match the powers of the Sailor Scouts." Perseus's face was set in grim lines that showed how the flesh had sunk in around his eyes and along his cheek bones, signs of his great age that were usually hidden.

Raye and Serena came dragging back into the room. They were both clearly exhausted, with leaves stuck in their hair. Serena collapsed to the floor. Raye looked at her disgustedly and sat down to start picking the debris out of her raven locks.

Molly shook her head at the spectacle before asking, "What are we going to do now?"

"Wait." Cassie put down her notebook. Her face was set in that cool, professional look that she put on whenever she was working on a particularly tough, or dangerous, problem.

"Why wait?" Raye asked impatiently as she tugged at a particularly stubborn twig, "What have you girls been discussing?"

"We have to wait to make any specific plans because we don't have enough information about General Hermes to make any decsions concerning him. We don't know who he is working for, what his agenda is, or how he is connected to Mercury." Cool gray eyes focused on empty space for a moment before Cassie shook herself and continued. "I think that this Hermes isn't just any Knight. He seems familiar somehow."

Mina sighed loudly, "I'll guess we'll just have to wait until he makes another move." The group of girls was silent for awhile; each caught up in their own thoughts.

"Why," Molly asked, "do these Negaverse villains take over humans? Why don't they just use youma or whatever?"

"When Beryl took me and the other Guardians, she did it to hurt Endymion and because she needed our knowledge of warfare and of the defenses of the Earth and Moon." Zoë answered softly.

"Then why would who ever is in charge need a Mercurian Knight? Mercury fell with the rest of the Silver Alliance," Artemis said, "For that matter, how would they even know who was a Knight? It's not like he would've been wearing a sign saying 'Look at me! I'm a reincarnated warrior from 25,000 years ago!'" 

"Like Cassie said, we'll just have to wait and see," Mina answered.

"I hate this!" Serena exclaimed, "Will we never get to have even a few months of being normal teenagers? I don't want to fight another war!" Molly hugged her silently. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts, the silence broken only by the distant sound of someone raking in the temple courtyard.

After a time, Lita flopped back down to the floor. "Cassie! So when is your next date with Andrew?"

Mina chimed in, "Yeah, we need details girl!"

Cassie rolled her eyes to heaven, "Even if I did go out with Andrew again, there is no way that I would tell you anything! I don't need another escort!"

"Andrew?" Molly asked incredulously, "I didn't know that you were dating! And what do you mean by escort?"

"I'm not dating him," Cassie muttered under her breath. Zoë poked her in the ribs and grinned hugely. She leaned over and whispered to her friend, "Just keep telling yourself that!"

"You haven't heard?" Serena cheered up immediately with the prospect of spreading some juicy gossip. "Last weekend…"

The three cats curled up out of the way of the energetically gossiping girls. "Well," Luna sighed, "I guess that is the end of that meeting." Artemis grunted in agreement before closing his eyes for a nap.

"Let them be, youngling," Perseus said softly, "After all they are teenagers. Teenagers upon whom a lot of responsibility has been placed, but teenagers none the less." 

Next Time on Sailor Moon: Serenity's Court

Peace seems to have settled over Tokyo for a while, but how long can it last? And more importantly, will CrossRoads High win the big game? Find out in: Party Crashers!

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